Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Path
by Becky4Ever1996
Summary: Set three years after Tokyo Ghoul: Kaneki, Hide and Hinami have been living for three years in a small town without any trouble with ghouls or the CCG until four mysterious students are enrolled in Kaneki's class and not only that there are rumors of a Ghoul auction… and that's only half the plot...SPOILERS FOR LATEST RE CHAPTERS!
1. College Arc: New

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Path**

 **Plot: Set three years after Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki, Hide and Hinami have been living for three years in a small town without any trouble with ghouls or the CCG until four mysterious students are enrolled in Kaneki's class and not only that there are rumours of a Ghoul auction… (Small ToukaxKaneki but nothing that takes over the plot).**

 **Note: This is the sequel to my other Tokyo Ghoul Fanfic, Untold Tale but you don't need to read it to understand this fanfic.**

 **Also this fanfic is kinda based of a request from a guest, Faith. I was going to do a fanfic like this anyway but I'm going put the name there because it encouraged me to start writing this fanfic.**

Chapter 1: New

The constant clicking noise was getting louder and louder in his ear, closer and closer…His hands were tied tightly behind his back, his legs chained to the legs of a chair, a blindfold covered his eyes, he had no hope of escaping the room or the agitating little noise of the centipedes tiny legs hitting against the walls of his ear begging for freedom. His breaths were laboured, he tried not to scream in pain or fear to give his torturer the satisfaction. It was maddening. It was dirty. It was painful but his torturer thought it wasn't enough now he felt the painful twist on his toes as the pillars brock in to his bone and twisted as the toe fell off then only to grow back again, a feeling he had grown too familiar with.

But there was no screams, only crazed laughter, his torturers laugher and his own as he felt the madness swell inside him, so why did his throat feel so sour? There was a sudden jerk, a bright flash of light that only lasted for a second and then comforting darkness.

Kaneki felt himself shot up, out of his restrains, his arms and legs were free and the only thing he could feel on his skin was the warm comfort of a mattress under him and a large duvet over him. The pain in his ear and toes where now gone expect the rawness in his throat as if he had been screaming, which he probably had…

He felt as if his heart would lunge out of his chest, his breath coming out his deep gulps, his skin and hair were drenched in sweat and his face was covered in tears. It's a good job that he doesn't wear a t-shirt to bed anymore or he would probably feel dirtier than he already did.

He pushed his black fringe away from his eyes and face as he tried to get his breath back into his body and slow down his hammering heartbeat. The scenes of the nightmare played on his head like a broken tape recorder, he tried to push them back into the darkest corners of his mind but he could still hear the distant memory of the centipede's legs clicking in his ear. Like every night when this happened he rubbed his ear to scratch out the noise, to remind himself that nothing was in there, he had to wiggle his toes to see if they were still intact just to ensure that it was all a bad dream.

A long forgotten memory that gets out of control sometimes.

Suddenly he felt a comforting light knock on his door he turned towards the noise, he had cover his eyes though when the door opened and a dim yellow light of the hall shone through his darkened room and a figure stood there with a worried smile on his face and glass of cool water in his hands.

"You had a bad one tonight didn't you" The figure said, he stepped into the room and shut the door bringing back the welcoming darkness. Kaneki could now look at the figure of a man about his age with orange blond hair and king chocolate coloured eyes, he wore PJ's hanging loosely over his body.

"Yeah" Kaneki mumbled as he took the glass of water into his shaky hands and took a sip. "It was the most realistic I've had for a while" That was true, the pain he felt in the dream felt the same as it did back all those years ago. Whoever said that you couldn't feel anything in dreams had obviously not met Ken Kaneki, he watched the figure of his best friend sat down on the bed next to him and place a comforting hand on his leg.

"Hide" Kaneki addressed the figure "I thought the dreams where finally fading away, why have they come back now?"

"Well I'm not a physiologist" The Hide with a hint of sarcasm and humour in his voice "But what you went though is not an easy thing to get to over, honesty if it were anyone else they would be ten times insane than you!" Hide gave a little chuckle and Kaneki couldn't help but smile, Hide always seemed to know the right thing to say in these situations, how to make Kaneki smile and how to make the bad dreams disappear.

"But in all seriousness" Kaneki said as he took a gulp of the ice cold water, grateful as it watered down the dryness of his throat. "It's been three years since that incident and still it hunts my sleep, sometimes when I feel like it's going to fade way it come back at me just as strong and real than before…" He watched as his hands shook, tightly gripping the glass, will this anxiety ever disappear? He thought, no matter how strong he had gotten or how strong he was going to be will he ever get over his memories?

Suddenly two warm hands folded on top of his. Hide's face was now closer to his their foreheads where almost toughing. They would of never have done this three years ago but lately Kaneki had come to accept comfort and a human touch if he was ever going to keep hold of his sanity.

"It's going to take time" Hide said softly as he could "just be patient, you can't rush these things"

Kaneki nodded in agreement then turned to his digital clock that sat on his nightstand, it almost half four in the morning, he need to be at the college by eight and get ready for his class. He remembered his supervisor telling him that he had four new students coming into his class who came all the way from Tokyo, he need to be fresh and ready to welcome them but he didn't think he could sleep at the moment.

"I'm going to make some coffee, you should go back to bed" Kaneki said as but his glass down on his nightstand and swung his legs over the side of bed, Hide got up from his seating position as he watch Kaneki get up a move towards his wardrobe to find a shirt.

"You sure Kaneki?" Hide said "You have a class to teach tomorrow and you don't want to look tired in front of your students".

"I'll be fine" Kaneki smiled as he pulled his shirt over his head "I'm a ghoul remember, you however need your beauty sleep if you're going to impress the woman with your Sherlock Holmes skills"

"Hey!" Hide cried out "I'm only a trainee detective I'm nowhere near as good as that fictional character yet!"

"Whatever say Hide…" Kaneki sighed as he moved out of his bed room into the dim light of hall, he quietly tiptoed passed Hinami's room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

As he made himself his cup of coffee he wondered what awaited him today….

Xxx

At half seven Kaneki was dressed and ready for work, he checked his folders and bag ensuring that he had everything, Hinami was just finishing off her morning coffee and Hide was finishing of the last scraps of his breakfast.

This was a practically normal morning for the trio, later Kaneki and Hinami would walk to the collage and Hide would drive to the police station where he worked they won't join up together until the evening where they would do work, hang out or watch a movie then after that they would go bed then start the day all over again. It was a relaxed and treasured routine for them, it something that the trio never thought they would have again and they didn't take it for granted.

"Are you ready Hinami-chan?" Kaneki called out as he put his shoes on ready to leave the house,

"Coming Onii-chan!" Hinami called, she quickly put her mug in the sink to wash later and swung her college bad over her shoulder and ran to the door and quickly slipped her shoes on as her brother waited.

"Good luck with your new students today Kaneki!" Hide called out from the kitchen, he didn't have to be in work till later "And you to Hinami, do your best on that art exam!"

"Thank you Hide-onii!" Hinami called smiling and the two brother and sister left the house together and made the ten to fifteen minute walk to the college, times like this they would chat on the way…

"So onii-chan" Hinami said starting up the conversation as they strolled past the normal look houses with it's neat little gardens, the town they lived in now was a quiet and modern looking place with western looking houses, it had a church, a temple, a school, a collage and a small shopping centre and supermarket, they also had market days. It was quite a nice place and it seemed that Kaneki and Hinami were the only ghouls in the town, not that anyone knew that of course they didn't even know that Kaneki was his real name.

"What is it Hinami-chan" Kaneki asked smiling,

"I was wondering if knew the names of new students starting your class" Hinami said "I mean they starting a little late aren't they? The new school term starts in April yet its mid-June?"

"They are only a two months late" Kaneki said with a slight chuckle in his voice "Don't worry I will catch them up, with me as their teacher they will be a head of everyone else soon enough!" Of course that was only self-wishing, Kaneki had only been a qualified teacher since May and had only started working in the collage since April but he had to keep optimistic! He found that techniques like joking, puns and being an optimist helped when he wanted to look like he was ok and not having nightmares or having dark thoughts, sometimes he even fooled himself.

"I'm sure you will onii-chan" Hinami said with a big smile on her face "I wish I doing literature so I can be in your class and see how good you are!"

"I wouldn't say I was good…" Kaneki said rubbing the side of chin in nervous habit,

"Of course you are!" Hinami said "I've told you that my friends in your class think you're best teacher in that collage and you explain things really well, I'm off Wednesday so do you think I could sit in on your class and observe"

"Really Hinami?" Kaneki sighed "Girls like you should be studding or going out their friends on days off but I don't mind…."

"Thank you onii-ch…"

"But on condition!" Kaneki interrupted as he up his hand up to Hinami's face before she could thank him anymore "You must try you're hardest in that exam today, I want to hear that it went well promise me?" Kaneki tried to keep his expression serious but he couldn't help the slight smile on his face.

"Sure thing" Hinami said give her brother a mock salute they carried on walking for a while until they came sight of the college, although they were a little early there were still cars parked outside and a few people in the building. Hinami and Kaneki waved goodbye and went into their separate ways to class, they wouldn't see each other until lunch time.

Xxx

"Oh you're the four new students" The receptionist said as she flicked though the four young adults files, then she handed the four students a time table each,

"You're first subject is with your main course leader" She said to the students as they read though their timetable expect the blue haired chubby girl who seemed to concerned on her bag of cookie's to notice "He will be waiting for you at room 3.023, just go up the lift to the third floor, don't keep him waiting!" And the cheery receptionist waved the four off as they nodded there thanks to her, then the group set off passed other students and teachers going about their business and headed for the lift.

"Its they nice here" the smaller boy in the group said, he had short dark green hair cut into a bob, green eyes and tanned skin, he walked behind along the cookie eating girl who just nodded in agreement.

"Well it is a new college Mutsuki, what do you expect!" The orange haired boy said who was second in front, he was grinning wildly showing off his pointed shark like teeth that people passing by had to double take, those teeth weren't normal.

"We are not here to enjoy the scenery Shirazu" The young man in lead said, this one had short purple hair and a serious look on his face, this was defiantly the group's leader because they all went quite when he spoke "We are here on a mission so let not get distracted…"

They got inside the lift and pressed the button '3' on the panel, the lift shook a little as it went up to the third floor, the doors slid opened and the group stepped out of lift and turned the corner where doors the class rooms ran along the wall. The green haired boy whose name seemed to be Mutsuki pulled out the timetable from his pocket.

"Room 3.023…" He said looking around sudden taking the lead and walked on as she read the number plates on the side of each door "room 3.017, 3.018, 3.019…" he mumbled and the group followed until they came to Room 3.023.

"Do you think the teacher in there is the guy we are looking for Urie?" The orange haired guy, Shirazu asked quietly as the group stared at the door feeling anxious, if what the CCG said was true then one of the most dangerous ghoul in existence could be behind that door.

"Well he better be" The purple haired man, Urie said "Or would be taking these boring lessons for nothing" Then before any of them could react the leader opened the door with ease and walked into the room with an air of confidence around him, ready to show this teacher who's he's dealing with but he needn't have bothered because there was nobody in the room…

"So much for your big entrance Urie!" Shirazu laughed as he took in the layout of the class room, it was basically you everyday collage lecture room with rows of wooden desks going up from the back and at the front an open space and an interactive white board where the teacher would of course…teach.

"So this is our Japanese literature class room?" Shirazu said his smile fading from his face "looks boring, it's not much different to the class rooms back at the academy…"

"But that's a good thing isn't it?" Mutsuki said smiling looking at the rows of desks as if he was deciding where he was going to sit. "What do you think Saiko?" He asked the pigtailed girl at the back, she was looking at her bag of cookies with a sad look on her face, it seemed that the bag was finished finally she did look up to the group.

"It's empty…" She said but the group weren't sure if she was talking about the class room or the bag of cookies so they just left it at that.

One of the group must have shut the door because it was suddenly pushed open and the whole group turned to face a young man who was probably about twenty-two or twenty-three, he was of average height and was wearing a black shirt and pants showed off his thin but healthy build. He had pitch black hair cut short around the sides but had a long fringe almost covering his right eye showing off his left silver grey eye and if this was person the group thought he was then the left eye is where jis Kakugan would be…

"Hello you must be the new students" He said and big welcoming smile formed on his face and had a hot mug of coffee in his hands. If the four were normal students they would have felt at ease right away in the man's presence expect they weren't normal students and they knew this guy wasn't a normal teacher.

If the CCG were right the man front of them was one of most dangerous SS ranked ghouls known.

"I didn't expect you four to be here so early so I ran down to the staff kitchen to make myself some coffee!" He said cheerfully he walked over to his desk and placed down the mug and he turned towards the students with a gentle smile on his face and said in a confident tone "My name is Haise Sasaki and I will be your form tutor and literature teacher for the year, I hope we can get along just fine…"

 **Just to clear some things up yes Haise is Kaneki's alias and NO Quinx squad are not Quinx…yet**.

 **I will only continue this if people will read it and review it, the chapters will get gradually longer ALSO Please point out of you notice any grammar errors or mistakes, thanks!**

 **Also the numbers of Kaneki's class room 3.023, 3 meaning empress and the number 23 is the Key Number of The Hanged Man (according to google).**


	2. College Arc: Investigation

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 2: Investigation**

"My name is Tooru Mutsuki, I'm pleased to be here!" Mutsuki said giving his new teacher a respectful bow, this was one way to make a good first impression and the others just hoped that Mutsuki hadn't forgotten why they were here.

"My name is Kuki Urie" Urie said with his back straight meeting his teacher in the eye, he wanted to put is prey at unease and show him that he wasn't going to be easy to impress. But if Sasaki/Kaneki felt any bit nervous of the boy in front of him he didn't show it, instead he smiled pleasantly at Urie and held out his hand in a western way,

"Urie-kun" Sasaki said "Your report says a cleaver lad, I'm lucky to have a student like you in my class" Urie eyes widened a little in shock that the ghoul would bother to read their reports, he didn't expect this guy to be any good of a teacher believing that humans are the superior species. He shook the thought out of this head, maybe the teacher was bluffing? Yeah that was it! So he shook his teacher's hand making a mental note to wash it later.

"Ginshi Shirazu" Shirazu said holding out his hand, obviously less concerned about touching a possible ghoul, Sasaki looked pleasantly surprised and took the boys hand then his eyes moved to the girl at the back who looked more tired than anything else. Haise noticed the dark bags under the girl's eyes and all the biscuit crumbs around her face, she made no effort to wipe the crumbs off instead she stared at the teacher then held out her hand which also had cookie crumbs on.

"Saiko Yonebayashi" She said introducing herself, Sasaki looked at her outstretched hand warningly trying to hide his disgust and forcing a smile and quickly shook the girl's hand.

Once introductions where done it was time for a quick talk about the course.

"I'm sure that the Head of Department has spoken to you about this already" Sasaki-sensei said to the group "but as you're main course tutor it's my job to go over it for you again, mainly you're classes would be with me and you will learn about Japanese Literature but you also have other lessons I believe some being maths and Asian history am I right?"

The group nodded, they knew what was coming because the Head of Department and some of the collage staff had told them about his already

"Because you have started later than usual it means you are going to be behind the other students" Sasaki said solemnly "It means I will have to give you extra homework and probably some catch up sessions to get you ahead with everyone else, but I don't want you to stress about it, just work at the pace that you're good at and you will do just fine and remember that my door is always open if you need support"

"Thanks you Sensei" Mutsuki said happily, he looked generally excited to be here but the others had other things on their minds wondering how they could prove or expose this guy to be a ghoul (All expect Saiko who was thinking about video games).

Finally some of the students started to file in staring at the new students in curiosity, Sasaki-sensei told them to sit anywhere they liked while he sorted out some text books for them. By nine all the students where present, the four new student had to get up in front of the class introduce themselves quickly before sitting down and taking their seats.

The lesson ran on very smoothly, the four sat on a row at the middle but it was only Mutsuki who seemed to paying any attention to what the teacher was saying and writing down notes. Saiko looked ready to fall asleep and it seemed that only Urie and Shirazu who seemed to be paying close attention, not to the Sasaki's voice but in his actions. How he interacted with the other students or if there was any discomfort, fickleness or jumpiness which most ghouls seemed to have when they were 'walking on the tightrope' but there was none of that with Sasaki.

Haise Sasaki didn't seem nervous or controlling when he stood in front of the class, his shoulders where high due to his position as a teacher but he was calm and confident. When a student asked a question or needed help he was more than happy to explain in a simple way slowly or quickly depending on that students abilities. He also laughed with the other students and also couldn't help but join in on the banter but it didn't distract him from the lesson, once they had their five minute laugh it was back to work.

Urie had to admit even though he didn't give a shit about the lesson itself Sasaki-sensei for someone quite young was a very good teacher, but there was one thing was puzzled him though. On Centipedes/Kaneki Kens profile his teachers, peers and employer had described him as a shy and reserved lad who didn't interact with many of his peers or the adults. He had also been described as depressed but Sasaki-sense wasn't showing any off those signs.

Sasaki was outgoing, talkative, friendly and certainly showed no signs of depression, could a person's nature change in over three years? Or was he just a good actor? If so he was a very good one.

Suddenly the bell rang at 11 o'clock, they had a fifteen minute break then they had an hour of maths then an hour of lunch then the rest of the afternoon was in Asian History until they could go home at three. The rest of the students filed out but the four hung back for Sasaki to speak to them.

"So how was your first day?" Sasaki asked the group once everyone had left, he seemed to look a little nervous for once, obviously wanting a good review.

"It was great!" Mutsuki blurted out "I don't think I've learnt go much in one day".

"Well I'm glad to see enjoyed yourself Mutsuki-kun" Sasaki said "I know you are going to catch up no problem, Urie-kun and Shirazu-kun" He turned towards the other two boys "You two seemed to be listening intensely but you didn't put anything down on your paper, I know it must be hard to catch up with everyone else but don't be afraid to put your hand up to ask for help or if you need to me to clarify something because I can't have you in every lesson listening but not writing down any notes or not doing your work, if so I might have to think about giving you extra lessons and I'm sure that would be blow to your pride".

Shirazu and Urie glanced at each other quickly, extra lessons is something those two didn't need to deal with especially with the investigations.

"I'm sure there will be no need for sensei" Urie solemnly "I will be sure to take my notes down this break time" Shirazu nodded in agreement then Sasaki turned to Saiko and Saiko stared back unresponsive to Sasaki's worried gaze.

"However Yonebayashi-san mostly slept in that lesson" They have all heard this, about Saiko's laziness and sleeping in lectures when they were students in the Academy but Sasaki surprised them.

"I'm quite worried about your health Yonebayashi-san" He said instead "You look really pale and those bags under your eyes don't look so good, you should try going to bed earlier ok?" Saiko's eyes widened clearly quite shocked they she wasn't going to get lectured on her attitude but more on her well-being, what teacher does that? She nodded in understanding. "Oh and lay off the cookies and sweets" The sensei added "I don't think they are doing you any good ether".

The others nodded their thanks to the teacher and went off to enjoy their fifteen break and find their next class. Once the kids had gone Kaneki sighed and slumped in his chair and brushed his hand though his fringe, this class had probably been the most stressful he had had since his very first class three months ago. He wasn't too sure why but his instincts and common sense told him that something was fishy about his new students, but he will have to think about it another time and maybe he should talk to Hinami or Hide about it later but right now he had to prepare for his next class.

Xxx

"So what do we think of him?" Shirazu said once they were walking down the corridor to find their next class "He seems pretty normal to me".

"It's only been a couple of hours" Urie argued back "we might have to stay for a few more weeks until we can be 100% certain if he's centipede or not" but his heart wasn't really into it, he had showed none of the signs of a ghoul and he didn't fit centipedes or Ken Kaneki's personality profile but he was sure he would know the truth by lunch time.

He decided to turn his attention Mutsuki "Don't get to caught up in the lesson Mutsuki" He said turning to the green haired boy "Remember we are here as ghoul investigators not students, I suppose you didn't see anything ghoul like about him?"

"Yeah Mutsuki was sure shucking up to him!" Shirazu said laughing, Mutsuki blushed.

"One of us has to be the good kid in that class" Mutsuki said in defense and he reached into his school bag and fished out the notes to Urie and Shirazu "I copied notes down in his class for you guys to copy, we need to look like normal hard working students or he going to be paying close attention to us and that's not what we want".

"Mutsuki's got a point Urie" Shirazu said shrugging "We don't have the time to be attending extra lessons we might have multitask, do the work and watch him at the same time".

Urie nodded in agreement "And we are going to have to make sure that Saiko gets more sleep…"

Xxx

Second period moved on quickly and soon it was lunchtime, the best time to discover if Sasaki-sensei was a ghoul or not. Urie had been looking forward to this moment but there was only one problem, where does Haise Sasaki have his lunch? The staff room? The shops? The local coffee shop? The collage cafeteria?

So here was the battle plan, they had sent Saiko to have her lunch around the shopping centre because that was the last place Sasaki was likely to go and Saiko needed to stock up on sweets anyway. Mutsuki decided to go the coffee shop which was also less likely because even though they knew their teacher liked his coffee, there was also a coffee machine in the staff room and that's where Shirazu would be. His job was to sit on one of the benches closest to the staff room while he pretended to be studying and Urie would go where gut told him to go which was the cafeteria.

After class they went to their places, Shirazu got to his area first and found a bench that wasn't too close to the staff room to get noticed but he sat on the other side where a huge window was and if you had good eyes you could see who comes in and out of the staffroom from the other side. He took his sandwich box out and book and pretended to read. To be honest with himself this was probably the most boring stake out he had ever done! He just hoped that the others were having more fun than him.

Which was true Saiko of course as you can guess was buying sweets and checking out the latest 3DS games, Mutsuki was sitting in the local coffee shop with a book in his hand and sipping on his coffee, it was only Urie who seemed to be working as usual.

Luckily for him he had remembered to make a pack lunch instead of eating the disgusting and over prized collage food. Most people went to the shopping centre for their lunch so the cafeteria wasn't too packed so he could keep an eye out for his target. He sat at the far corner of the cafeteria on his own as he watched students and teachers alike walk passed.

He sighed in frustration, he had been sitting there for five minutes slowly nibbling on his pasta pot but he knew he had to be patent. His gut feeling told him that Sasaki would come here but negative thoughts kept prodding him saying that he must be mistaken for once and if he doesn't come doesn't that make him a ghoul? That thought filled him with hope. Oh how much he would love to slay the famous SS rank ghoul centipede, surly that was worth a good promotion?

But Urie had to reason with himself, any human can skip lunch he had to remember that his target was a teacher so he might be helping the other students? Or he could be marking papers? Or he would be in the staff room, coffee shop or shopping centre where his 'friends' might be? Or then again Urie might be just a little impatient?

Urie checked his phone to see if one of the others had texted him but they hadn't, he would just have to calm down and wait.

Xxx

Fifteen minutes later more students have come into the cafeteria, by the paint and clay on their hands Urie guessed they were art students but he didn't take any notice of them once they sat down at the table on the other side of the room. Finally Urie's waiting had paid off because his target had entered the room, so Haise Sasaki had come after all.

The target hadn't noticed Urie yet and he was carrying a lunch box in his hands. Urie then did what the CCG had trained him to do and that was to look natural and uninterested. He took out his IPhone, to anyone else he looked like he was going on an app or texting a mate but really he was videoing his targets movements so he could look back on it later. Meanwhile watching out of the corner of his eye what his target did in case he caught something that the phone didn't.

Luckily he did decide to record it or he would off missed something interesting. Sasaki sat alone on a table in the middle of the room and Urie could see Haise's profile but he hadn't noticed Urie yet then next thing a girl from the group of art students that had walked in before came up to him smiling.

Urie watched them intensely, trying to work out their relationship though their body language since he couldn't hear what was being said. They certainly weren't in a student and teacher relationship, they seemed too friendly with each other and the girl seemed to be teasing the male teacher. They couldn't be in a relationship could they? But their body language didn't look intimate but like they we're friends? Sibling's maybe? He had the girl on camera now so he would have to look her up later.

The conversation between the two didn't last any more than a minute before the girl walked off back to her friends and Sasaki turned back to his lunch box and opened it and pulled of a can of coffee and…a muffin?

This is where Urie had to watch closely, some ghouls where well practiced to eating human food. The trick was that the ghoul would swallow the food but not taste it then pretend to chew the food after it had been swallowed.

The muffin looked like it was just a plain old dough muffin with some kind of rusty red sugar on the top and Sasaki took a bite out of it and chewed it leisurely and wiped the crumbs of his face before swallowing. If this guy was a ghoul pretending to a human he was doing mighty good job of it, he even looked happy while he ate it with no signs of discomfort or disgust. After the muffin was finished he drank down his can of coffee and got up from his seat and left the room.

Urie waited for a few seconds before getting up himself, mostly after eating human food the ghoul would go a puck up the food right after before it had time to digest. There were toilets right outside the cafeteria so Sasaki must have gone there.

He quickly left the cafeteria and headed around the corner to the male toilets but when he went inside there was no one in there. He only had to check once to confirm that Sasaki hadn't been here, he couldn't smell any sick but why was that? If Sasaki was ghoul it would make sense for him to come here after eating, then his phone rung. He took his phone out to see that it was from Shirazu.

"Hey Urie" Shirazu said once Urie had answered "I've just seen Sasaki-sensei enter the staff room"

"Did he look ill or off or anything?" Urie asked desperately, Sasaki had to be centipede! The CCG couldn't be wrong now? Not when the promotion was so close!

"Sorry Urie, he looked perfectly healthy to me" Shirazu said "Why did he eat anything?"

"Yeah, a muffin and a can of coffee and he didn't go the toilet either". There was pause on the other end then Shirazu said.

"Look how about we call everyone together and discuss the situation" Shirazu suggested, "There is no point investigating any further at this moment".

That was one of the smartest things Shirazu had ever said, so they agreed and texted Mutsuki and Saiko to meet back at the college entrance.

Xxx

Kaneki had slumped down at his desk in the staff room, luckily the teachers that usually sat next to him where doing extra lessons or eating lunch so he had plenty of space to think things though. When he entered the Cafeteria today he noticed his student Kuki Urie sitting alone at the far side of the room and by the looks of it he seemed to be videoing him, years of living with a student detective and watching out for ghouls and the CCG made you notice these things.

Next thing Hinami came up to him and told him that the Art exam went well and it seemed that Kaneki had to keep his promise by letting Hinami sit in on his class this Wednesday. He wasn't sure what he felt about that, he was happy because he hadn't had a chance to teach Hinami for a while but on the other hand he felt nervous of having her in the same room as his new students practically Urie. He was also sure that Hinami had been caught on Urie's camera, he was going to have to warn Hinami about him tonight.

Where his new students investigating him? Did they work for Aogiri Tree or the CCG? Everything had been so quiet for the past three and half years it was about time something happened. He felt a sense of dread at the thought of his normal life being distorted or his new family getting hurt but he also felt a guilty twinge of excitement but he stamped it out.

Was his instincts craving for his old dangerous life of fights and cannibalism?

Again he stumped the thought out and tried to get his mind on the task he had to deal with now and that was discovering more about his new students. On their report he had read they had studied at a High School in Tokyo, there was no background on anything ghoul or CCG related and that was all the college had to go on.

Maybe he might need Hide's help on his one.

But before that he had to send Tsukiyama-san a thank you message for the muffins. If Urie-kun did work for the CCG it would off been a problem eating human food. As you can guess the muffin that Kaneki ate in the cafeteria was made of human meat disguised as a dough muffin and the red sugar on it was the same stuff the manager had made those sugar cubs from when Kaneki was trying to come to terms with his new ghoul life.

The purpose was that the muffins looked so much like normal human muffin that Hide had nearly eaten one once or twice, the only problem with them was keeping the kakugan hidden but Kaneki was already well trained in that.

Most of his and Hinami's food source now came from Tokyo delivered by either Tsukiyama-san, Touka-chan or Banjou-san it had been while since he had hunted for his own food but it couldn't be risked due to living in such a small town but why did he had the feeling that was going to change.

Xxx

The group of four met outside the college entrance, Urie told the others what he saw but he missed out the part of girl who talked to Sasaki or that that he recorded the target, he wanted to work out that one for himself.

"So he can't be a ghoul" Mutsuki said "He didn't go to the toilet after eating!"

"But that doesn't prove anything" Shirazu said "He might be just holding it in so it looks normal, some ghouls do that".

"Shirazu's right on this one" Urie said but Sasaki's face while he ate the muffin proved otherwise… "We might have to stay for another few weeks…"

"But if it's certain that he's human there is no reason for us to stay…" Shirazu started but Mutsuki interrupted him.

"Not true" Mutsuki said solemnly "remember that Sasaki-sensei is not our only target, remember there are rumours of an auction that's going to be held by ghouls somewhere outside Tokyo and this town is the most likely place it would be held".

"True" Urie said, he couldn't help but agree with Mutsuki. The squad's main mission was to investigate Haise Sasaki but their other job to find out if the rumours that a ghoul auction was taking place in this town were true, if so they had to call the CCG. The main reason they thought it would be held somewhere in this town was because a few weeks ago a ghoul nicknamed Nutcracker including some Aogiri Tree members were last seen taking the root to this town.

It was likely that they just went through this town and have already passed on somewhere else but it was even more likely that they were still here in the town setting up the auction. So ranks 3's Sakio, Urie, Shirazu and Mutsuki the less known investigators and less likely to attract attention where put on the case and if anything happened they were ordered to contact Mado straight away.

They just hoped that they wouldn't need to wait too long…

 **I'm sorry if the chapter was too much paragraph and I'm also sorry if there was too much Urie because seriously I hate him but he was useful for this chapter. Also how do you like my idea for the muffins?**

 **Also I would like to thank all those who have Fav and followed, I would also like to thank tats magicalmcguffins for reviewing and help explain somethings, I would also like to thank** **akaiin and a guest . I'm sorry that I can't reply to guest reviews but I did Spanish in High School and I can read the review no problem it's just writing Spanish is difficult for me.**

 **So tell me what you thought of this chapter? If would help a lot. And please don't be afraid to point out any spelling or grammar errors, if do I will give 10 cookies lol (Maybe the Saiko kind)**

 **Thank you!**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	3. College Arc: Torso?

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 3: Torso?**

The rest of the afternoon flew by, both parties of the investigators and Kaneki had nothing to go on for the time being. By home time Urie, Mutsuki, Shirazu and Saiko where making their way home back to their small shared apartment not far too from the collage. They put their collage bags away and Mutsuki and Shirazu decided to go and explore their new town a little more, get a layout of the town and hopefully find out something about ghouls or an auction.

There was no point of forcing Saiko to come she just wanted to sit in her room and play on her 3DS, to be honest the other three of the group thought it was a miracle they got her in to the collage in the first place. Shirazu and Mutsuki asked Urie if he was coming but he declined saying he wanted to do more research on Haise Sasaki and Ken Kaneki which wasn't a complete lie but now his investigation was going in a different direction. He needed to know who that girl was.

After the two had left (but not before Mutsuki giving Urie a strange look) he checked to see if Saiko was locking herself in her bedroom, she was then he took out his laptop. It was time for a little research.

Luckily for him the CCG had already given him the software and equipment to hack into the collage computer system where the list of students would be. He was only allowed to use the hacking software if it was important and should be used if you had nothing else to work with, well this seemed important and Urie had no other leads and like I said before he was impatient.

While he waited for the hacking software to do its thing Urie went over to his desk and took out the reports details of Haise Sasaki and Ken Kaneki. He needed to look other the reports one more time.

Ken Kaneki was born on December 20th, he formally lived in the 20th Ward in Tokyo after both his mother and father died. It seemed that his father had died of an accident when Kaneki was an infant and his mother died of over work. Urie had to stamp out the feelings of remorse for the ghoul, he knew what this ghoul had gone though and that was a scary thought, it also seemed that both parents were humans with no unusual history. So how was he a ghoul then?

It read on to say he lived with his aunt but then moved into student accommodation while studying Japanese Literature at Kamii University, he also got a job as a waiter at a café called Anteiku which later was discovered to be run by ghouls but he never finished his education as he disappeared for six months. The last time he was seen was by Kishou Arima as the half ghoul centipede/eyepatch but hasn't been seen since.

It wasn't written on the page but Mado had told Urie and the group a theory that Kaneki was an artificial ghoul created by a mad doctor called Kanou who also disappeared around the same time. It would explain why both his parents where human but could you really create a ghoul? And why would you do that? There were enough of them to worry about as it was!

But Sasaki's report wasn't as interesting as Kaneki's. It read that Haise Sasaki was born on April 2nd, was Tokyo born but his parents (Who had the first same name as Kaneki Ken's parents) moved the family to Obama where Sasaki was home schooled until he moved to the town three years ago to do teaching.

Normally they wouldn't check up on a guy like Haise Sasaki but a few weeks ago they got a witness saying that there is man in this town who looks a lot like Kaneki who went by the name of Sasaki and Akira Mado believed that witness and he could see why. Looking at the photographs the two did look similar with both having jet black hair, grey eyes and similar faces but to honest Sasaki looked like Kaneki who had grown out of this baby face.

But people with black hair and grey eyes were common features in Japan, the face depends on how you interpret it. He pondered over the details until he heard the welcoming ping of his computer telling him that the download was complete.

'That was fast' Urie thought as he put the reports back inside his desk and pulled his computer onto his lap and got up the software which seemed to be a database of all the students and staff in the collage. He wondered where he should start, first he typed 'Sasaki' in the surname box then clicked on the arrow where the list of courses showed up and he clicked on 'Art and Design'. He was sure that Sasaki and that girl we're related in some way.

It didn't seem that there were many Sasakis in the Art Department because as soon as he clicked 'enter' only one name popped up, it read Hinami Sasaki and her profile picture on the side of her name. So he was right! That was the same girl he had seen at lunch today! He clicked on the name waiting with anticipation for the information…

Xxx

Shirazu and Mutsuki left the flat closing the front door behind them, once they we're out of ear shot Shirazu turned to Mutsuki,

"I wonder what Urie has got on Sasaki-sensei?" Shirazu said and wondered why he wouldn't share it with the rest of the group, but he didn't say that out loud.

"I'm sure he will tell us once he's got it all figured out" Mutsuki said but sounded unconvinced, it wouldn't of been the first time Urie's withheld information from the group. Even though he was the squad leader he liked to do things independently, which Mutsuki didn't really see as a bad thing but he just wished that Urie would be a little more open with the group.

"I hope so!" Shirazu said crossing his arms against his chest "But let's worry about ourselves now, let's find some info! Do you still have that picture of Nutcracker Mado send you?" Mutsuki nodded and took out his phone and showed the image to Shirazu.

Shirazu had to admit that Nutcracker was very pretty, long black hair, big grey eyes, rose lips and show white skin, he wasn't going to forget that image anytime soon.

"That's one hot woman!" a voice of a girl said behind them and two investigators couldn't help but jump out of their skin, Mutsuki nearly dropped his phone as they turned towards the figure who surprised them.

The small girl who looked around 16 stood there beaming at the two stunned investigators, she had dark chocolate brown hair and light brown eyes and she held a camera in her hands.

"Oi!" Shirazu snapped once he had regained his compose "You don't go sneaking up on people like that!"

"Waaaa, I'm sorry!" The girl said in a high pitched voice, honestly the girl remained the two of the child. "But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation…" She explained "You see I was just going to meet with a friend when I heard you two talking and I just got curious, I know that woman in the photograph…" She said and that really took the pairs interest.

"What do you know about her?" Mutsuki asked hoping this wasn't some trick, she couldn't help but wonder what the girl had found so interesting in their conversation and how she seems to have information on one of the ghouls they are looking for.

"I don't know her personally but with a pretty woman like that it's hard not to notice her" The girl said smiling then she gave a small bow "My name is Chie Hori I'm usually going back and forth from here to Tokyo and I know an investigator when I see one" She said.

"Look no one is meant to know that we are here…" Shirazu said but was interrupted by Chie,

"Don't worry about that!" she said "That woman in the picture works in a night club outside of town, it's quicker to get there by taxi and I think her house is down there too".

"Wait how do you know all this…?" Mutsuki said stunned, how did this girl know so much? And was it really just plain luck that they ran into her down the street? Chie looked at her watch and gasped,

"I'm sorry!" She said trying to sound apologetic but Shirazu thought she looked more relieved than anything else "I'm meant to meet a friend at the train station, I will see you around!" Then she suddenly bounced away.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Shirazu said confused on what just happened, Mutsuki was the only one calm in the situation.

"I'm not if we should trust her…" Mutsuki said a feeling of uncertainly about that girl creeped in him.

"I know" Shirazu said "But what other leads do we have? And besides we will just take the taxi to the club and take a quick look then we will come back and report to Urie then make a plan, what's the worst that can happen…"

Mutsuki nodded but she still felt uneasy like this was some kind of mistake.

Xxx

The two investigators called for a cab to nightclub as they waited outside one of the sweet shops behind their flat. Mutsuki was nervous, he kept clutching his hands together to stop them from shaking. He couldn't explain his reasoning for being so worried he just felt that this was going to go horribly wrong, but if Shirazu felt any worry he didn't show it but indeed he was looking bored with his hands in his pockets and watching the citizens walk passed.

Mutsuki never really had much of a chance to talk to Shirazu alone or get to know him, maybe this was a good time to start a conversation and ask a questions that he really wanted to know.

"Shirazu I have a question" He started and Shirazu turned towards the nervous young man "Why did you become an investigator?"

Shirazu looked stunned at the question then he grinned showing off his sharp teeth

"Well for the money obviously" Shirazu said grinning "It pays more to work for the CCG than the police besides you get really cool weapons!" Mutsuki didn't believe him she just stared at the orange haired man then left it at that, next the taxi came and stopped in front of them.

The two climbed into a cab and fastened their seat belts.

"We've heard there is a nightclub out of town" Shirazu said to the taxi driver "Do you know where I'm talk about?"

The driver didn't turn to face his passengers straight away he could smell the sweet scent of a woman lingering in his cab, he knew it wasn't the orange haired male. Finally did he turn towards his passengers and his eyes trailed towards the green haired person who sat on the left looking nervous, like a little rabbit waiting for a predator to strike.

"Don't worry" The cab driver said turning back around so the kids could see the grin beginning to form on his face "I know exactly where you want to go".

For a while Shirazu and Mutsuki sat in the taxi in silence, they weren't sure on the direction the taxi was taking them but they knew that something was wrong as soon as taxi turned in to a small dark empty road behind a few shops and houses.

"Oi where are we?" Shirazu demanded "Shouldn't we still be on the main road?"

Then quickly before Mutsuki had time to react let alone blink the taxi driver shot forward towards Shirazu holding a pointed object that looked like a needle. Shirazu suddenly felt a sharp pain in the side of his body, the last thing her heard was Mutsuki cry out before everything went black.

Xxx

"Well I shouldn't off expected anything more than this but it's enough to know that something isn't right…" Urie said to himself after he read up all the info the collage had on Hinami Sasaki, he quickly sent it to the printer and filed all the info in his head.

Hinami Sasaki was born on May 21st and basically had the same history as Haise Sasaki with the same parents and everything but why wasn't Hinami Sasaki mentioned in the report Urie was given on Haise Sasaki. Surly this girl is important, how could the CCG miss her? This was also the same with Kaneki's report, he also had no mention of a sister.

 _Those guys are really useless…_ Urie thought as he got up towards the printer and placed Hinami's file in his desk along with Kaneki's and Haise's. He sat on his chair, hands clasped together in thought wondering where this lead him now…Was it worth telling the others about her? No. If Haise was a ghoul then that would mean that Hinami was too, maybe two ghouls caught would mean double the credit or maybe he would let the other three have Haise while he took on the girl single handily. That would surly get himself recognised, yet wasn't Haise the bigger fish? Maybe he needed to think this out better…

Xxx

Mutsuki knew he needed to react but couldn't, his body felt like lead as he watched Shirazu's eye lids slowly close and his body slumped in his seat, only the seat belt was holding him up. Mutsuki couldn't help but cry out as the driver tacked him, unlocking Mutsuki's seatbelt and pulled him down so the taxi driver was sitting on Mutsuki's lower stomach but Mutsuki didn't feel the pain of a needle like Shirazu had, instead he felt the horrified shock of his shirt being ripped open and the sound of buttons falling on to the floor.

"I thought I could smell a woman in my cab…" The driver said grinning as his pupils turned blood red and the sclera turned into a pitch black, the eyes focusing not only on her breasts but the large scars only then did Mutsuki know that he was staring into the eyes of the ghoul Torso…

Xxx

After Kaneki's lunch he had sent a quick text to Hinami asking her to wait for him by the college entrance so they could walk home together. Usually on Mondays Hinami would be the first back, leaving at half three, Kaneki would also finish at three but he would stay behind for a couple of hours to mark test papers, making time for extra lessons and plan his next class but today he would be going straight home. He didn't know why but he felt uneasy about Hinami walking home on her own today practically when he hadn't warned her about the new students in his class and Urie's odd behaviour at lunch.

He rushed to put his papers in his bag, ensured that the class room was tided properly, said goodbye to some of his fellow staff workers and went down to wait up for Hinami. He waited at the college entrance for a while then he knew that Hinami had been let out five minutes early because he saw her coming towards him with a concerned look on her face. He supposed that the sudden text message must have her worried, this was very unusual for the both of them because it was unlike Kaneki to ask her for this type of stuff.

Hinami spotted her onii-chan standing by the front doors with that solemn look on his face he used to have back in the old days. When Kaneki's group was formed, when there was a lot going on in Kaneki's mind and there was so much danger he used to have this lost, cold but thoughtful look on his face where his eyes would just go blank and his face had a stone expression that you knew that he was troubled. Hinami had hoped that she would never have to that expression again but as soon as Kaneki noticed her he wiped that look off and smiled slightly at her but he still looked disturbed. Hinami smiled back and greeted her onii-chan like she hadn't noticed his grim expression, no doubt he would talk to her about it anyway…

Once outside the collage and walking on the path home did Hinami break the silence,

"So what happened today Onii-chan?" She asked hesitantly, hoping that her onii-chan was going to be honest with her but she needn't have worried.

"It's my new students" Kaneki answered solemnly, he told Hinami about Urie's and Shirazu's behaviour in his class and the fact that he was sure that Urie was videoing him in the cafeteria and he was worried that Hinami had been caught on that video. Hinami listened to her brother's account with interest and was going through her own thoughts on the situation.

One of the thoughts she had was that her brother was just being paranoid, she heard him screaming last night due to that horrible nightmare so maybe he was being jumpy? Or maybe it was due to fact that their life had been quite for the past three years and he expected something to go wrong any time now, sometimes Hinami thought the same thing.

But now she had to look on the other side that her onii-chan could be right, in a ghoul life it was better to be careful than sorry even the slightest suspicion should be taken into account so she should take Kaneki seriously but better to be honest.

"So what do think?" Kaneki had asked her once he had finished talking, the road they needed to cross to get to their street was now in sight.

"I think its right to be careful of them" Hinami said nodding "But it's not worth pondering just now, perhaps we should tell Hide-onii? He does work with the police so maybe he could get us some more info on them"

"I was going to do that anyway" Kaneki said "But you're right, it's only been a day I will see how they act in tomorrow's lesson".

"And don't forget I'm sitting in on your class on Wednesday!" Hinami reminded him "Maybe I could do a bit of spying and use my hearing to see what they are up too, I have been practicing on my skills so I should be ok". Kaneki frowned a bit, he was proud of Hinami's skills and special hearing but did he really want her involved?

"Just be careful" Kaneki said carefully "If these kids work for the CCG or Aogiri then we're in trouble".

"But what if they are though?" Hinami asked worryingly "Would we have to kill them?"

Kaneki didn't want to answer that question but luckily he was distracted. Once they got to the road they we're meant to cross they noticing a bunch of police cars down at the far left of the road where the back of the shops and houses were. There where people crowded around and the police where trying to hold everyone back. Hinami and Kaneki exchanged worried looks, what the hell happened?

Crime wasn't unusual in this town but usually it was just some plain old robbery or assault but never had he seen so many police officers and police tape in one area there was even a forensics van which meant there must have been some kind of murder.

 **Sorry if this chapter is a little jumpy there was no other way to do it and trust me I needed to re-write it a few times to make sure it made sense. Yes where the police are is the same place where Mutsuki was attacked the next chapter will explain what happened between them and what's going on.**

 **By the way I'm not doing this to make the story more like TG:Re Torso, Chie and Nutcracker are going to be important characters later on.**

 **In the next chapter we learn what happened between Torso and Mutsuki and maybe find out who Chie was meeting at the train station. Also Hide will come back in the next chapter and hopefully there will be less Urie…Did I mention I hate him. I will also try to do less jumping between characters in just one chapter.**

 **I will like to thank tats magicalmcguffins, Francesca and for reviewing on the last chapter and I also love those who follow and Fav, thanks guys and I hope you will all stick with me because I plan to do a chapter every week.**

 **Adios!**


	4. College Arc: Surprise

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 4: Surprise**

 _A few minutes ago_

"I thought I could smell a woman in my cab…" The driver said grinning as his pupils turned blood red and the sclera turned into a pitch black, the eyes focusing not only on his breasts but on the large scars, only then did Mutsuki knew that he was staring into the eyes of the ghoul Torso.

Mutsuki tried to remember all he had been told about Torso but none of the info he was remembering really helped his nerves. Torso was only a rank A ghoul but his methods are violent if not perverted, his victims where usually found naked and headless and where usually young woman with scars.

Why this ghoul had a fascination with scars was unknown and unimportant, however what was important was the fact that if Mutsuki didn't do something right now she was going to be transformed into a headless corpse with all police and her fellow CCG members examining her body for figure prints and hair samples. That though alone was enough to snap her out of her shock, she watched as the ghouls fingers were about to trace over his scar. Once his hand made contact with the skin only then Mutsuki's own hand reached into his own trouser pocket, pulled out a small knife like quinque and plunged the knife in the ghoul's wrists.

The shrill scream that came from the ghoul rung in Mutsuki's ears but he ignored it and pulled the quinque out and pushed the ghoul back as he clutched his wrists in pain and his head banged against the front seat. Mutsuki knew that this would be a good time to run it but her eyes trailed to Shirazu who was still knocked out from the drug. Even though Mutsuki knew that Shirazu wasn't one of Torso's usual victims he was still in danger, Mutsuki didn't have the time or strength to drag Shirazu out of the taxi so the only thing that Mutsuki could do was drag Torso out!

Mutsuki slammed open the taxi door and jumped out then she felt something grab her ankle that made her crash to the hard concrete floor but she kept hold of the knife, she turned to see that Torso had hold of his ankle with his good hand with his face twisted in pain and anger but in his eyes Mutsuki could see fear but determination not to let his pray go. But the fact that Mutsuki was being held with Torso's weaker hand made her chances of escape possible and it meant that his stronger hand was still bleeding. Mutsuki noticed blood drops dripping on to the floor, he was surprised at this because surly a strong and feared ghoul such as Torso would heal after a small cut? Or many Torso wasn't as strong as people thought?

Mutsuki aimed for Torso's hand which held on to her ankle but the ghoul was expecting this and he quickly moved his hand and Mutsuki had no time to stop himself plunging the blade into his own ankle. He cried out in pain and shock as he heard the ghoul laughing,

"Ha-ha that was very careless of you!" He sneered then he jumped in for the kill but Mutsuki rolled out of the way and his foot sent sharp pains throughout his leg but she couldn't let that distract him. He pressed the button on his belt. When this button was pressed it would alert the others wearing the same type of belt that the other was in danger and was able to track the person in trouble. Obviously everyone in their group wore one so surly Urie or even Saiko got the message but today didn't seem to be Mutsuki's lucky day

 _Meanwhile back at the flat._

Saiko had changed into her bunny onesie and was now playing on her PS3 staring at the screen while the buzzing noise on her belt went unheard due to the loud music playing in the background. Even if Saiko could hear it wouldn't off made much difference since the belt was for some reason stuffed inside Saiko's over loaded laundry bin…

If you want to know where Urie was he was decided to freshen up in shower, the belt lay on his bed going unnoticed. Seriously these belts were really no good unless the person wore them but of course Mutsuki had no way of knowing that…

 _Back to the fight_

Mutsuki noticed Torso trying to stand up, Mutsuki was doubtful that he could win but if he could bade time for Urie and Saiko to get here then maybe they would stand a chance but of course we all know that they aren't coming.

Mutsuki mustered up his strength and courage and leaned towards the ghoul and using the quinque knife as he aimed for the head, but a wave of dizziness washed over him and he ended up stabbing the ghoul below his shoulder blades instead. The ghoul cried out and Mutsuki was thrown backwards and he skidded across the floor, he cried out as more pain shot though his leg and he started to go dizzy again probably due to the blood loss. He needed to do something about that.

Mutsuki tried to get to his feet ignoring the pain and dizziness as the scenery started to sway back and forth then he noticed that his knife was missing, was it still stuck in the ghouls back? He still couldn't see properly but he could make out the dark clothed figure of the ghoul standing up and turn towards him.

But what could Mutsuki do? He was injured, weaponless, dizzy, alone…He needed to retreat now! But how could he leave Shirazu? How could he tell Urie and Saiko that he left his team mate with a ghoul, they will think of him as coward particularly Urie…

He tried to keep himself up and keep his eyes on the approaching figure slowing making his way towards him, but his vision was darkening and his legs were getting weaker.

 _Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake! Gotta keep awake!_

But his vision was getting darker and darker and he felt himself sinking lower and lower to the floor, his pain was dulling, everything was quite, everything was black…

Xxx

The time was now five past four and Kaneki and Hinami were back at the house, they expected Hide to be back around six so Hinami was deciding what to cook for his tea but Kaneki had a feeling that he won't be back till late due to the scene they just passed.

There was no point in Kaneki and Hinami to try looking at the crime scene, they didn't want to try getting though the crowds of people and no doubt Hide would tell them all he knew once he got home, if anyone was put on the case it was going to be Hide even if he was just a student/underling.

Kaneki was lying down of the sofa with shoes, jacket and tie off at the moment he was in his own world wondering if there was some connection between his new students and the crime scene he had just seen. I mean was it really a coincidence that one of his students is videoing him and next one of the road is blocked off by police?

Kaneki as a teacher hoped that it had nothing to do with any of his students, that they all at home doing some studding or out with their mates or family having a good time.

"Hey onii-chan?" Hinami called from the kitchen snapping Kaneki out of this thoughts, he saw her standing by the kitchen door with one hand holding a packet of fish and in the other holding chicken nuggets. "What do think Hide would like for tea today, fish or chicken nuggets?

"I'm not sure let me text him" Kaneki said pulling himself out of his comfortable lying position to search for this phone.

"Are you ok onii-chan?" Hinami asked watching her brother struggling to get up "You have been in that position since we came home, are you still thinking about Urie?"

Kaneki nodded feeling too lazy to tell her verbally, he walked over the coat hanger to get his phone from his jacket when suddenly he heard a knock from the door. The two siblings shared a look then turned towards the door, they weren't expecting any visitors…

Kaneki held his hand up towards Hinami indicating that he wanted her to stay where she was but maybe it was because of all the events which had happened were making the pair jumpy because when he moved to answer the door he was greeted by a pleasant surprise. Kaneki felt a smile forming on his face and his shoulders relaxing,

"Chie, Touka-chan! What are you two doing here?"

Before Touka could answer Hinami ran over to Touka give her a bone crushing hug while Kaneki started teasing Chie calling her 'little mouse' while Chie stuck out her tongue at him.

"Onee-chan what brings you here?" Hinami asked, Touka pulled away from the girl with smirk on her face,

"What I can't I give a surprise visit my favorited little sister and my least desirable half-ghoul friend?" She and turned to Kaneki with a sweet smile on her face but Kaneki wasn't buying it.

"I wish I could believe you Touka-chan…" Kaneki sighed lifting his arms is a mock shrug, "but I've had the feeling that something is going on and you're here to warn us of something…"

The smile fell from Touka's face, she nodded gravely the cheerful atmosphere in the room was suddenly replaced by a cold silence. This was more than a happy family reunion, Touka had come to warn them…

"What's happened onee-chan?" Hinami asked suddenly worried, too many strange things were happening today first her onii-chan thinks there is something strange about his new students, then a crime scene and now her onee-chan gives a surprise visit.

"Kaneki is right…" Touka said sternly "I should off come sooner but a lot of confusion is happening at Tokyo for the ghoul side…"

"Please sit down and start from the beginning…" Kaneki said sternly, his expression now becoming serious as he realised the situation "I feel that we have a lot to get though…"

Xxx

The first thing that Mutsuki heard was the sound of beeping of a heart monitor, he tried to open his eyes but the lids felt heavy. Only after a few more attempts did he open his eyes and was greeted with bright clean light of the hospital. Mutsuki rubbed his eyes open and his vision becoming clear then he noticed two figures sitting either side of his bed, one with two blue pink tails and with her eyes glued onto the DS rather than the patient and the other with orange hair who seemed to be leaning over him in concern,

"Oh thank god you're awake!" Shirazu cried out with a smile forming on his face and Saiko finally looked up from her game.

"S-Shirazu, Saiko?" Mutsuki crocked, his throat felt dry "How long have I been asleep for?"

"Not too long…" Shirazu said poring Mutsuki a glass of water from the container which sat by Mutsuki's bedside "It's only six o clock, you only blacked out from blood loss but the nurse said it could have been much worse" He handed Mutsuki the glass of water, he took it in steady hands and sipped.

"And…what about the ghoul?" Mutsuki asked worryingly "Did they see him?"

"No" Shirazu said gravely "it was an old couple that found us, they were the ones that called the police but there was no trace of the ghoul, only his ID was left in the taxi it turns out that the guy's name is Karao Saeki and you wouldn't believe what the police found in his trunk!"

"What…?" Mutsuki asked, though he was a little afraid of the answer.

"Woman's torsos wrapped in strong bin bags, sounds like a certain someone doesn't it?"

"Torso…" Mutsuki nodded and Shirazu sighed, Saiko stayed quite watching the two not completely understanding what was being said but knew that her friends nearly died today.

"The CCG have already been called…" Shirazu said "Some investigators should be here by tomorrow or the next…"

"Does this mean that an auction is really taking place?" Mutsuki asked, he felt glad that the four of them won't be on their own anymore but this also meant that things were getting serious and if the CCG was sending some investigators surly it would get out to the town, including Sasaki…

"Well it seems likely" Shirazu sighed "I mean this is a quite human town where normal ghouls wouldn't give a second glance, which means something must be going on…"

Xxx

Once the group was sat down, Hinami had made everyone coffee then she and Kaneki sat together on one sofa while Touka and Chie where sat on the sofa across. Chie had taken her laptop out of her bag, the others didn't ask what she was doing and Touka started her story.

"For a few weeks now…" Touka started "some of the ghouls who have been coming to Café RE have told me rumours that some Aogiri Tree members have been moving out"

"Wait!" Kaneki said cutting if her sentence "Are you saying that Aogiri is going to quit?"

"I didn't say that" Touka said giving the half ghoul an annoyed look "I said they have been moving out not that they have dispatched and it seems that they have come to your town…"

"But why?" Hinami asked worryingly "of all the places why here? You don't think they are looking for onii-chan do you?" Touka gave Hinami a reassuring smile and placed her hand on the girls shoulder.

"Kaneki can take care of himself" Touka said then she turned towards the confused half-ghoul "I won't lie to Kaneki, you might be one of the reasons why they have come here but I don't think that's half the plan. Big Madam is coming here too and I'm sure you know that she works with Ghoul restaurants and auctions".

"I know about the ghoul restaurants" Hinami stated "But not much about auctions…" Hinami said, when she lived with Kaneki's group she had learnt a lot about ghoul restaurants and what goes on in the outside world but this is the first time she has heard about an auction. Kaneki looked like he was about to explain but Chie beat him too it.

"Auctions don't happen that often" The small child like woman said not taking her big brown eyes away from her computer scene "They are quite a big events between the upper class ghouls and they usually don't get unnoticed by the CCG that's why they are so rare but ghouls go anyway"

"But why risk it?" Hinami asked "What's so special about them?"

"As you know an auction is when people bid on something and see who make the higher deal" Kaneki said clasping his hands together nervously, he hated the thought of anything ghoul restaurant or auction related, it was one of the reasons he created his group years ago and the fact that it was happening on his door step…"A ghoul auction is just the same but instead the ghouls are bidding on humans, usually famous people but have normal people too".

"So you can see why it's risky for the Madams to organise this" Touka said solemnly "A famous soup actor has gone missing since last week including a singer and a presenter" Yeah Kaneki remembered it being said on the newspaper last week…

"So let's get this straight…" Hinami said "Aogiri is town, they probably want my onii-chan for who knows what, they are planning an auction to sell innocent people, and do you think the CCG know about this? Would they come to town?"

Touka shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, I think the main reason why they are doing it in this town is so the CCG won't find out and interfere but these things are possible…"

"But what about you're new students, practically that Urie" Hinami asked as she turned to face Kaneki "do think they are involved with Aogiri as well?" Kaneki was shocked at Hinami suggestion but was it possible, he knew those students were up too something but he didn't want to believe they would be the type to join that despicable group of ghouls but luckily there was one problem with Hinami theory that Kaneki just realised.

"But Hinami" He said carefully "Those kids didn't seem like ghouls, I've been training my sense as you have taught me too and they smelt pretty human to me".

"Sorry what are we talking about?" Chie said finally looking up from her computer, now it looked like it was Kaneki's time to explain…

Xxx

Meanwhile, somewhere in outskirts of town a band of ghouls who called themselves Aogiri Tree resided themselves in an abandoned building next to the nightclub, the group guessed it used to be a block of apartments because there was six floors and each floor was sectioned in to rooms all of the same size. Each of the members had either got a room to themselves to decided to share, didn't really matter anyway because there will be more of the members coming soon.

The group had tried to make the rooms as comfortable as possible by using wood and cardboard to stop to draft getting though the broken windows, they were using old found mattresses and materials to sleep on and keep them warm at night. Even though living rough was nothing new to these ghouls they couldn't wait to get back to their main building in Tokyo where they had proper beds, electric, T.V and hot water but they didn't plan on staying here long.

Once the is auction was done and dusted and Aogiri Tree got what they needed they could go back to Tokyo and then it was phase two of their plan but first phase one which could only work if a certain taxi driver would stop getting himself into trouble.

At the top floor of the apartment three of rooms where merged together by breaking down walls because who ever lived up there now felt like he needed the most space. Ayato Kirishima paced the room up and down with Karao Saeki sat hunched and face in his hands at the far corner of the room. Saeki couldn't stop his bones from shaking, he had lost control back in the taxi but that girl smelt so good! She was week, only seconds away from being one of this 'collections' but then Ayato stepped in.

Ayato counted himself lucky that he was around the area when he heard the cries of the idiotic taxi driver and now the plan was failing, Karao Saeki was essential to phase 1 and now he had made himself known that he was a ghoul and to an investigator at that! Ayato examined that knife the girl had stuck into Saeki's back, it was defiantly a quinque so that meant that the CCG was already onto them. He should of also let Torso kill that girl if he had known she was investigator including that boy in that taxi, he just hoped that Torso had discovered something despite his failings.

"Well Saeki I think we have a problem…" Ayato said twilling the knife in his hands "The reason why you were useful to the Tree was because of your position as a taxi driver, you could drive anywhere without causing suspicion or being noticed and it's the prefect job to grain information but now that you've drawn attention to yourself and to an investigator at that the humans are going to know you're face and name it would be suicide to continue you're job or even go out in public…"

"P-please Ayato" The shivering ghoul stammered, his face full of tension and fear "I can still be useful! Please I can't be dispatched…"

"Calm down…" Ayato said putting a gentle hand on the frightened ghoul's shoulders and he felt the ghouls shoulder tense, he sighed trying to calm himself down. This scary-cat ghoul was becoming a pain and if the humans and investigators knew what he was really like they wouldn't fear him so much. But still maybe the _shithead_ had its uses.

"Did you discover anything?" Ayato asked carefully "Anything about 'it'?" But to Ayato's disappointment Saeki shook his head wildly as he clutched his hair in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I listened and typed all the conversations but none of my passenger's spoke of the ghoul you asked for, in fact no one is this town has any trouble with us ghouls…"

"Well that is going to have to change" Ayato said standing up he walked over to the door but stopped as his hand reached for the door handle "By the way" He said "We need recruits to body guard Big Madam at the auction so maybe you might be useful after all…"

"Oh thank you!" Saeki sighed in relief with a huge spread across your face "I won't mess it up this time!"

"I really hope so Torso…" Ayato said softly as he opened it the door then slammed it shut behind him, he now had to deliver the news to the others…

 **Wow that's a nice long chapter, I'm on half team so I had a lot of time on my hands to write this chapter I would like to thank my reviewers tats magicalmcguffins, and also akaiin for pointing out a spelling error that I hope I've fixed.**

 **And hooray! Only four chaps and I have 16 followers! Don't worry I won't let you guys down!**

 **So what did you think of Mutsuki Vs Torso scene, that was my first time writing a fight scene but I think I did an ok job. Please tell me what you think and what could be improved, seriously reviews mean a lot to us fanfic writers!**

 **The only thing I'm sad about is the fact that I didn't get the chance to include Hide** **Don't worry you will see him in the next chapter! And I hope that you don't mind my putting Touka in but she is one of my fav anime girls and is one of the few anime girls that I don't find annoying…**


	5. College Arc: Determination

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 5: Determination**

Kaneki stood alone in the middle of a circular shaped room that seemed to be stretched out showing no limit. The floors and walls were decorated like a checkboard that brought back vivid memories of Jason's old torture room. Kaneki tried to move his legs but his feet were glued to the white square, he tried harder but to his frustration they didn't move an inch. Suddenly the presence of a figure made Kaneki look up and standing in front of him about seven squares away was a figure of woman with his back to him.

Kaneki could see the girl was wearing a plain white flowing dress contrasting with her dark tanned skin and her short green hair that blew in time with her dress. To Kaneki she looked like the type of girl who would be standing on the edge of a cliff with the sea wind blowing around her, but Kaneki felt no wind. She was the only moving object.

Next his attention was drawn to another figure to his far left, a figure of a young male who also had his back turned but this person didn't look as half as elegant as the first. The orange haired lad had his hands stuffed in his jean pockets that seemed a size too big for him, he wore a dark blue hoody which was covered with suspicious red stains. Kaneki found himself wanting to turn away from this slouched figure but the third sight didn't make him feel any better.

He heard it before he sensed it, the sound of teardrops hitting the floor. He turned to see a girl at his far right also with her back turned to him, this girl looked more familiar with blue curly hair tied up in pig-tails running down her back. Kaneki couldn't see her face but the drops of tears hitting the floor gave away that she was crying even though no sound of sobs came from her.

Kaneki felt the urgent need to comfort this girl, to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be ok but still he couldn't move his legs, he was trapped on one particular square with no way of advancing or retreating. Suddenly Kaneki felt himself stiffen as chill ran up his spine, his eyes widened in fear as he felt a forth presence behind him. Kaneki clenched his fists and took a calming breath before looking over this shoulder to see the outline of a male. It was too dark to see any facial features, he just stood up straight his hands behind his back that gave Kaneki the impression that the figure was looking right at him.

But Kaneki didn't have much time to stare at the bone chilling figure for long until he was hit by a sudden impact on his back. If he had control of his feet he would have fallen from the weight but instead his knees bent as the heavy object made itself comfortable on his back. The creature must have dropped from the ceiling, but this was dream and anything could happen.

The creature wrapped its legs around Kaneki's waist and its arms around his shoulders, Kaneki didn't need to see the creatures face to know who it was. He could see a shock white hair out of the corner of his eye and a long bird like mask resting on his shoulder.

Suddenly the creature leaned close to Kaneki's ear and wisped in the voice that made Kaneki's ears craw…

" _Looks like these four are in the same boat as us…"_

"What are we doing here?" Kaneki demanded to know, he had made peace with his ghoul/centipede-self years ago not that he would reject it any time soon…How could you reject something that is a part of you? Yet here was centipede was sitting on his back, it was like carrying your own weight…

" _This is a dream Kaneki, surly you know that much?"_ the white haired ghoul said with a slight smirk in his voice _'dreams are like a person's deepest thoughts coming to life, sometimes they are mundane but other times they can be symbolic, our dream are mostly symbolic…"_

"So who are these four people?" Kaneki asked "What do they mean to us?"

" _You think I know any better?"_ Centipede questioned with a little chuckle in his voice _"All that I'm sure of is that fact that I'm here means that you're relying on me"_

"As always…" Kaneki sighed, he knew that conversing with his other half would get him nowhere. They would just be going around in circles discussing things that the other already knew. He wanted to wake up now, get out of this checkboard like room, away from the lone figures and the white haired ghoul making his back ache.

Without another word the black haired dreamer closed his eyes, like he had always done with situations like this and thought about home and the feel of his soft pillows against his head and the warm blankets covering his body. Next he felt the pressure on his back leave him as he fell backwards in the air and the only weight on his back was the soft feel of his mattress.

Kaneki shot out of bed his mind felt like it was in a haze, like he was still in the dream which wasn't unusual when he woke himself up from a tense dream but it still felt weird. The half-ghoul rubbed his eyes and concentrated on his breaths, he looked at the clock that read it was 5:30. He knew if he kept waking up this early he was going to drain himself out which wasn't a good idea since Aogiri Tree and possibly the CCG were on his trail but he couldn't stop himself pondering over his dream and those four figures surrounding him. He felt he should know them from somewhere but his mind wasn't working at its usual speed.

Then he thought about Centipede, his old self. Why was _he_ in the dream? Was it true that Kaneki was relying on his old Kakuja-self? It made sense with everything that went on yesterday but it still made him nervous. He hadn't used his Kakuja since the incident with Arima three years ago and he only used his kagune to keep up with his training but the thought of having to use his half-kakuja frightened him.

Last time he used it he nearly killed Hide…

These where one of those times where he wanted to rant to someone such as Hide, Hinami or Touka-chan but she was staying at Chie's flat and he bet that his two house mates were fast asleep.

That afternoon, once Kaneki had explained everything about his new students to Touka and Chie they thought that maybe that Kaneki was just being paranoid but agreed that they should investigate further, but Chie was being very quiet though? Then the girls left but not before saying that they will be in touch and that they should meet up again the next night. It wasn't until seven o clock that Hide came back from work and they had to explain everything again, not to mention what Touka had said.

Hide was a good listener, he let Hinami and Kaneki speck without interrupting as they explained everything what Touka had told them. At first Hide suggested that Kaneki and Hinami stay at home but it was out of the question. Kaneki took his duties as a teacher seriously and besides Kaneki thought it was best to live as normally as possible so not to attract attention. Hide reluctantly agreed, it just meant that the trio would have to be on their guard for now on.

Kaneki sighed in frustration and climbed out of bed, threw a shirt on a decided to do one of his favourite things. Make coffee. Seriously he needed it.

At the moment his mind felt like a tangle of knots all twisted up and overlapping together with no direct path to take. The thoughts of Aogiri, CCG, Urie, the crime scene and the dream were making his head spin in confusion and apprehension that it would drive him mad if he just lay in bed doing nothing, _not that he was mad enough already…_

He quietly walked passed Hinami room and down the stairs, to his surprise he noticed the down stairs lamps still on. Confused Kaneki continued down the stairs and rounded the corner to see that Hide was still up.

The blond young man sat on the sofa typing away on his laptop, he hadn't seemed to notice that Kaneki had come down. Then Kaneki remembered something that he should have been thinking about before, now he felt a little guilty for thinking about his own problems and not about his best friend. After mentioning the crime scene which he and Hinami passed, Hide had a sudden angry look in his eye and it had turned out that Hide wasn't on the case!

Kaneki couldn't help but feel disappointed for his friend who had been waiting since the beginning for an opportunity like this. But because of the seriousness of the situation and the possibility that ghouls might be involved they only wanted one student detective which was Hide's rival, Kana. This was unfair for Hide who knew the most about ghouls than anyone in this town (Well he is living with two of them) and has the most passion and commitment, yet it went to some stuck-up A star girl.

Maybe Hide felt like he needed to bulk up on his knowledge but Kaneki didn't care, his best friend needed sleep.

"What are you doing up?" Kaneki said making the blond man jump in his seat and nearly droping his laptop, Kaneki bit down a chuckle as he watched his best friend trying to gain his compose but all laughter was gone when Hide turned around to face the half-ghoul. Kaneki noticed the redness in his eyes and small dark grey bags forming under them. Had he been up all night?

"I could be asking the same about you?" Hide said with an annoyed look on his face but the sound of his tone gave away he wasn't really mad and it was just a pathetic way to hide the fact that he was tired.

"I just woke up and was going to make some coffee" Kaneki said shrugging his shoulders as he walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard where about seven pots of coffee where stashed. "What about you though?" he asked "Don't tell me you've been up all night?"

"Maybe…" Hide said feeling guilty and turned back to his computer "Anyway Kaneki, would you be dear and make me one of your nice strong coffee's please?"

"Maybe you could be a dear and go to bed?" Kaneki argued back as he put the coffee beens in the mug "Seriously you have work in less than four hours, you should get all the sleep you can".

"Aren't you interested in what I'm researching?" Hide asked smugly

"Not at the moment Hide" Kaneki sighed tiredly was he waited for the water the boil "My head already feels like a whirl-wind of mess and I don't need something else added on to it…"

"It's nothing new" Hide said "I have just been looking up the news in Tokyo, so far there has been very little ghoul activity, I also looked up the local news it seems that the story is already online!"

"What does it say?" Kaneki asked suddenly interested, he walked over to Hide and leaned over his shoulder to look at the laptop "Did it mention who the victim was or the criminal?"

"There is no mentions of the vic" Hide answered "I suppose he or she is under the police protection from the media but there is picture and name of the offender here…" Hide clicked open the tab bar which had the article on the crime scene that Kaneki and Hinami passed, Kaneki wasn't interested in all the information he asked Hide to scroll down the page and at the bottom was the picture of a criminal and a name at the bottom that read Karao Saeki.

"So what do you think of him?" Hide asked the half-ghoul "No one has said the accident was done by a ghoul, which is probably to reduce panic".

"I can't really tell who's a ghoul just by looking at their picture" Kaneki said, all he could tell from the picture that he was stuffy, middle aged taxi driver who didn't get paid well judging by the old shirt but that was it. "Do you think the accident was caused by a ghoul?" Kaneki asked nodding at the picture.

"I don't see why not" Hide said before giving off a yarn "I mean if Aogiri Tree is in town there is obviously going to be some accidents, I wouldn't be surprised if the CCG start showing up around anytime soon then we really have to be careful"

' _They might have already found me…'_ Kaneki could help but think as he thought about Urie's odd behaviour and Shirazu for that matter but he was still unsure about the other two.

"Come on" Kaneki said with a smile as he light punched the human in the arm "Get to bed or do you want me to tell your boss that you're ill…?"

"NO!" Hide cried almost dramatic, Kaneki was afraid he might awake Hinami "I will go to bed, make sure I wake up in the morning ok?"

"Fine…" Kaneki said as he watched Hide pack up his laptop under his arm and slump off to his room but he stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked back on Kaneki.

"Why are you up anyway?" The blond human asked curiously "Did you have another nightmare?"

"Don't distract me Hide" Kaneki warned as he poured the water into the coffee cup "Go to bed and we will talk after work". Hide pouted like a child making light of the situation but of course Kaneki couldn't miss the sadness in his eyes, but before Kaneki could think about saying anything else the human was already up the stairs.

Xxx

That morning the sun was high and bright as it shone through the bedroom curtains onto a young collage girls face as she snored loudly though out her bedroom but the sun didn't awake her, hardly anything disturbed Saiko Yonebayashi from her slumber. Even as he alarm on her IPhone beeped at half seven in the morning signalling for her to wake up, she reached her hand out and knocked her phone off the dresser and onto the floor. That was another trip to phone doctor today.

Somewhere in the kitchen, Kuki Urie was making toast just for himself and enjoying the peace and quiet. Mutsuki would be at the hospital, the doctors said if he makes an improvement he can come tonight. Shirazu was in his bedroom and was told by the doctor to take a few day break from collage to get his strength back and Urie wasn't going to bother awaking Saiko it was hard enough yesterday and she would just be dead weight anyway. So Urie was going to spy on Sasaki on his own which he wasn't complaining about, just more credit for him.

At half past eight that morning, after he finished his breakfast and did the five minute walk to the collage be began to wonder where today would lead him and what would happen to the town when they noticed CCG investigators around.

The police managed to hide the fact the Mutsuki was attacked by a ghoul, they probably didn't want the citizens of this town to panic but Urie knew that it couldn't be hidden forever. It also made thing difficult for Urie because it meant that Sasaki would be on high alert (If he was the ghoul they were looking for that is) but if you wanted that promotion you would have to dig for it.

While he neared the front doors he turned and stopped as two familiar people walked behind him, it was Haise and Hinami Sasaki. Sasaki smiled one he noticed Urie but Urie noticed the frown on Hinami's face but she quickly hid it with a smile that seemed fake.

"Oh Urie, good morning!" Sasaki greeted once he was close enough "On your own today?"

"Oh yeah" Urie said, _'Please don't pretend you're interested'_ Urie thought as he faked a slight smile "Mutsuki is still in the hospital but he should be coming home tonight, Shirazu is still recovering and Saiko slept in…"

"Wait!" Sasaki up his hand up in front of Urie cutting him off from his speech, the sensei had look of shock and worry on his face, his mouth hung open and his eyes were as wide as tennis balls that's when Urie realised he had made a mistake. Yet he couldn't help but feel satisfaction that he knew something that the sensei didn't.

"Oh sorry I thought you knew" Urie said biting back the smirk "Did you not hear about the accident yesterday afternoon? It's all on the newspapers"

"Yes we did" Hinami, the sister said. Urie didn't like the way Hinami's dark eyes glared up at Urie "I didn't know that my onii-chan's new students were involved…"

"It was a bit of shock" Urie said shrugging it off "Shirazu and Mutsuki got in a taxi yesterday then suddenly the taxi drive suddenly knocked Shirazu out and tried attack Mutsuki, he must have been on drugs or something" _(Or a ghoul)_.

"But they are going to be ok right?" Sasaki asked worryingly.

"Oh yeah" Urie said "I mentioned that Shirazu is resting at home and Mutsuki should be out of hospital soon, if you want I could give them any homework or notes they need to catch up on?"

Sasaki nodded in agreement shacking himself out of his shock "Yes that would be most helpful Urie-kun" He said with a slight worried smile on his face then to Urie's surprise the supposed half-ghoul placed a gentle hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry about your friends, please tell them that I hope they get better soon".

"I will" Urie said shrugging the hand off his shoulder and gave the teacher another fake smile "I suppose we should head off to class now Sensei" Sasaki looked at his watched then gasped "you're right!" He said "But I might be a little bit late, make sure the students hang on till then" The turned to Hinami and nodded and the two hurried off towards the collage leaving Urie behind with his thoughts.

Xxx

Shirazu was bored and that was the lighter way of putting it, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep last night, he was worried about Mutsuki who was in the hospital and the incident with Torso wasn't helping his mood. He felt ashamed and useless when he remembered how easily that ghoul knocked him out while Mutsuki had to fight for his life. Shirazu kind of wished that Mutsuki would of just ran off that day instead of hurting himself so Shirazu wouldn't be left on his own. Shirazu groan in his frustration, he need to regain is dignity! The CCG officers could come anytime today.

How could he face Mado when he hadn't done anything useful since he got here? Urie was doing well with his investigation on Sasaki-sensei and Mutsuki put up a good fight with Torso, and of course Saiko was just being Saiko but what has Shirazu done?

He looked at the clock, it read five past nine and Urie would be in class now. He got out of bed moved out of his bedroom to Saiko's room. He quietly opened the door a little to see the girl still sleeping, then he closed it again without a sound. He knew Saiko would be ok on her own, in fact she probably wouldn't notice the flat was empty.

The orange haired man got dressed, pulled on his coat and shoes, then he put two quinque knifes in his pocket. He didn't feel like having any breakfast he wanted to do something useful, so he did what he was going to do yesterday. Find Nutcracker.

Xxx

After the incident yesterday there was no way in hell that Shirazu was taking a taxi, he was going to take the bus. It took while, the bus had to make quite a few stops but finally it arrived where Shirazu wanted to be. Last night he looked up the place that Chie was talking about and it looked just as it had on google maps.

If you could describe the edge of town in one word it would be 'dingy'. Shirazu was greeted by the smell of Weed as soon as he got off the bus stop, tall old concert building towered over him that consisted of shops and apartments. Going down the road from the bus stop Shirazu was glad he was tough guy, he spotted gangs lurking is alleyways, prostitute, grumpy old and maybe prevented men. It was very different to other side of town which he was used to.

But he kept to main paths, away from any corners or dark spaces and tried to remember the route to the club Chie told him about. The route was very simple, he just had to keep going up straight then turn the corner at the cross road then he was there.

Shirazu stood by the door of the tacky looking club, it was dark inside and sign read closed but he could see a middle aged woman brushing the floor. He supposed he would have to ask her…

Luckily the door was unlocked, Shirazu opened it with a click and woman looked up from her work with an annoyed look on her face.

"Didn't you read the sign?" She snapped "We're closed, we don't open until six"

"Calm down lady" Shirazu put his hands up in surrender, he hated woman like this they scared him "I was just wondering if this woman works here?" Shirazu dished out a photo of Nutcracker he got from Urie, the woman looked at the picture closely and squinting her eyes a little.

"Yeah she's one of my employees" The lady said frowning "What do you want with her?"

"S-she's a friend" Shirazu stuttered diverting his eyes to floor he was really bad at lying and the woman could see it too.

"You're lying!" The woman said sternly, the young man couldn't help but wince. "She owes you money doesn't see?" Shirazu looked up in surprise at the woman's answer, although it wasn't the right answer the investigator was too tongue tied to say anything.

"She rents a small apartment across the road" The woman said as she pointed out the window to a particular clock of flats that looked no different than the others. "It's the third floor I think, she's always bringing both men and woman to her flat I wouldn't get to close to her"

"Thank you" Shirazu bowed at the woman and rushed out the door and across the road, he had hit the jackpot! Would Nutcracker be in her flat though? He couldn't fight her, not with small quinque knifes but maybe there was information on the auction or Aogiri Tree?

He would have to take a look, if the ghoul was home he would leave and come back hopefully with his squad or the CCG members but he knew how to pick a lock and if the ghoul was out it was be good time to grain information.

Maybe today was going to be his lucky day…

 **Ok I know this chapter was a little boring and I hope I didn't make centipede-kun to OC but the next chapter is going to be a little hectic because we have the CCG coming to town, Nutcracker and a bit of info on Aogiri Tree and that's a lot to get though in one chapter it might even be two chapters but don't be surprised if it's a little late.**

 **IMPORTANT! I'm not sure I've mentioned but if this fic continues to do well as it now there is going to be a sequel , now here is the question: Do you want the sequel inside this fanfic? Or should it be a separate story with its own title? That might also mean that this Fanfic's title gets a change. Please let me know in reviews or PM. Love you all!**

 **I thank tats magicalmcguffins, Guest, Francesca, Della-Avril and who took the time to review 3**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	6. College Arc: Trap

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 6: Trap**

Meanwhile as Shirazu was walking to Nutcrackers apartment something was lurking underground in the sewers of this busy little town. Ayato that morning left his flat to meet up with Eto the two had business today practically with the incident yesterday they needed more cooperation and ground work if the auction and their plans was going to work effectively.

At that moment most of the higher up members of the organization have been using the sewers as their main meeting place and usual hang out, particularly Eto but Ayato knew that the main reason why she spent so much time here in his dank dirty place, until the 'Doc' comes to town someone had to look after _him_.

Ayato had finished climbing down the shaky and unstable ladder that led him down to the sewers, he ensured that his scarf was tightly covering his nose and mouth so the smell of damp and murky water wouldn't destroy his highly effective ghoul nose.

The ukaku type ghoul travelled north down the long metal tunnel his footsteps echoing though out the tunnel as he stayed on the narrow damp pathway keeping clear of filthy water to his right. He hated this place and he didn't understand how Eto or _that mongrel_ could live here, he was relieved when he came to the door on his left which was made of rusty old but strong metal.

Ayato knocked lightly on the rusty red door but it didn't stop the sound echoing loudly though the tunnels, Ayato cringed at the sound.

"Come in!" A sweet child-like voice called out though the door but Ayato knew better to describe it as innocent. He pushed open the door making a loud creaking sound that went right though Ayato's sensitive ghoul ears, he wondered again how the other ghoul in the room could stand it.

Although, Ayato wouldn't know if the female ghoul was in pain nor not or what other face expressions she would make because her face was hidden by white bandages with gaping black holes where her eyes would be. The ghoul, Eto was sitting on her bed with a book in her hands and her bare legs swinging back and forth with her dark red/brown robes hanging over her.

Ayato knew that she had been waiting for him, even though he hadn't made an appointment she had told him to come in when it could have been anyone at the door. You see before Eto moved in and personalised the small cupboard sized room with a bed, posters and multi-coloured candles, Ayato guessed it used to be a storage room for tools, extra pipes, rubbish and gas but now it seemed forgotten and unused for donkeys years.

Ayato had to confess that Eto had done a good job of stopping this place smell like piss, maybe it was the candles?

"Ayato-kun!" The banged girl messily dropped her book on the floor with a tump and jumped out of her bed to greet the teenage ghoul in a friendly manner "Big Madam has just contacted us" She said with excitement in her voice "Even with the incident that happened yesterday, Big Madam is still fine going through with the auction, in fact I think the risk of the CCG attacking the auction has got her even more excited!"

"That sound like Big Madam" Ayato said sighing and could help the little eye-roll "but it means that we are going to have to take more defensive measures, Torso won't be much good if a gang of investigators target us and I would also need back-up if anything happens".

"Don't yourself about that" Eto said with a little giggle in her voice as she waved Ayato off "I already thought that far ahead, I have decided that Naki and Miza would be on your team"

"Alright…" Ayato agreed nodding his head, he couldn't complain even if Naki had the emotional span of a four year old he wasn't an S rated ghoul for nothing and was one of Aogiri Tree's strongest allies at least Miza could sort him out.

"Anyway, was this all you wanted to talk about?" Eto asked as she tilted her head to the side in a curious manner.

"Not really" Ayato said solemnly "I just needed to know, are we still going after the Eye-patched ghoul?"

"Of course we are!" Eto said laughing putting her hands on her hips playfully, everything seemed to be a game with Eto. "Why do you ask?" She asked the teen ghoul with his hands in his pockets and gazing at the floor in a sullen mood. "Oh I know why!" Eto lifted her arm and pointed to the ceiling in a cartoon and expressive manner "You're onee-chan is in town isn't she?!"

Ayato clenched his fists at Eto's words, no one in Aogiri dared to mention the White Rabbit, especially in front of Ayato. But this was Eto, the ghoul that you wouldn't be stupid enough to attack and Ayato wasn't stupid.

"It's not like that" Ayato mumbled but it was loud enough for Eto to hear "I'm saying she has probably made contact with Eyepatch now, maybe we could use her in some way…"

"You are sweet Ayato, it's what I like about you" Eto said, the male ghoul could hear the smirk under her bandages "You're onee-chan won't be harmed, not by me anyway but I think we can use her absence from RE to our advantage".

"How do you mean?" Ayato as suspicion sank into his gut. He didn't like how Eto said those words…

"You don't have to worry about it" Eto said in her usual sing-song voice as you should talk to an infant. "Just worry about CCG and Big M, I'm sure that Kanou's favourite experiment would come to the auction too".

"Then doesn't that give us more to worry about?" Ayato said questionably, the last time he faced that bastard Kaneki he had broken 103 of his bones including giving him an effective science lesson on the human body. To be honest he didn't fancy facing that half-ghoul anytime soon.

"Again, don't worry" Eto said lying back down on the bed as she waved her legs in the air like a child would "The _mutt_ will take care of that".

' _Him?'_ Ayato thought as thoughts rushed into his head like a swarm of bees "Are you sure that's a good idea, Eto?" Ayato questioned the ghoul in front of him "you don't want to lose one of Kanou's best creations".

"You have to let the dog of the leash at some point Ayato-kun" the child like ghoul sighed tiredly, showing that she didn't want to have this conversation "I will confess I will miss him, it's been a good three years but we can't keep him forever and besides it will be worth it when the CCG find _him_ in such a state, I wonder what they would do?"

Xxx

It was very easy for Shirazu to just show the picture of Nutcracker to the landlord of the block of flats where she stayed at and point him to her room. The first thing that Shirazu did when he came to her room was knock on the door, normally this would be a stupid thing to do but he had to check if the ghoul was in first before proceeding and besides if she was in he could just say he had the wrong flat. The orange haired investigator knocked on the wooden door three time, paused then knocked again louder just to be safe. Still no answer.

Shirazu couldn't believe his luck, finally it was his turn to do something useful! Luckily for him he always kept his lock-hacking kit in his coat pocket, looking over his shoulder and down the corridors to ensure that no one was going to pass him he then knelt on his knees in front of the door, set out the tool and got to work.

It only took him less than five minutes when he heard the click inside the lock and the door swung open as Shirazu let himself in.

It was a small room with a simple kitchen that looked tidy and unused and to the right was a small T.V and sofa that made up the living room. At the far right where two white wooden doors, Shirazu didn't bother investigating the kitchen and living room. They were too simple that you only had to give it one look to know it was unused so he walked to the two doors. He opened the first one and he came across that seemed to be the bathroom, nothing really interesting there only the fact that it was full of bottles of hair products and skin creams. He closed the door and decided to check the last door which was as he guessed her bedroom.

As room as Shirazu opened the bedroom door he was greeted by the smell of perfume, it was a disgustingly strong smell but at least there wasn't the smell of bead bodies. Shirazu didn't know where to start searching, if Nutcracker was going to have any info on the auction it would be here but why did this room have to be such a mess?

The dingy dark blue carpet was littered with makeup such as cheap lipstick, broken eyeshadow dust scattered across the floor, perfume bottles that where half empty and mascara missing its lids. The room way also filled with clothes both cheap and expensive with high heeled shoes without pairs. Shirazu noticed that the wardrobe doors were wide open and stripped bare of any possessions and all thrown across the floor, mostly on bed.

Shirazu wondered why there where piles of clothing on top of the bed, he walked over the pile trying not to trip on anything and picked out a black lace object out of interest. He stared at the object but then threw it back onto the pile in horror when he realised what the object was and started to wipe his hands on his jeans.

Oh well, at least he could say boldly that he had touched a woman's bra.

Now Shirazu thought that it was time to get back on topic. Searching for information!

The place Shirazu decided to investigate was the wardrobe, it must have been cleared out a reason so maybe the ghoul hid the info inside the wall or something. He tapped on the wood of the small wardrobe, from the top to the bottom and all the sides and still nothing. He got on the floor and checked the underneath but the only things he found was piles of bust bunnies and a spider! And no Shirazu didn't scream like a little girl….

The rank three investigator had now given up on the wardrobe and moved to the drawers. When he pulled out the draws they were empty, but Shirazu wasn't going to fall in despair yet! Although there wasn't much to search in this room he hadn't checked the bed yet. He thought to try under the bed first, he didn't fancy checking under all that pile of clothes anytime soon.

The investigator got onto his hands and knees once again, mentally crossing this fingers that he was on the right track. The bed was a single and there was not much to look under so Shirazu's eyes were imminently on the black glossy folder laying in the middle. He grinned madly showing of his famous shark like teeth, this had to be it! He just hoped that his presumption wasn't wrong and it wasn't an order forms for more makeup.

But suddenly as soon as his hand moved to grab the folder a sudden red muscle like object shot out from under the carpet. It must have been under the floor boards all this time, waiting and watching because Shirazu had no time to react the kagune like object pierced into his hand.

Then he screamed.

Xxx

Urie was now on his fifteen minute break as he sat in the small collage cafe not far from his next class. It was now quarter to eleven and he had spent nearly two hours in Sasaki's class then after his break he had History then lunch, then Sasaki again! Seriously that teacher was really starting to get on his nerves. Urie this time had concentrated on his work, writing down notes and essays while looking for any ghoul like behaviour which wasn't easy. Maybe it was better to have all the gang here after all, at least one could keep a good eye out while the other tried to look like a normal student.

Besides there were other ways to get a promotion.

Suddenly Urie felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he sighed miserably and here he thought he would get a quite fifteen minutes to himself. He pulled out his phone and checked the caller, it was from Saiko. Urie raised his eyebrows in confusion, since when did ever Saiko call him or at least talk to him?

Urie pressed the accept button on his and placed it his ear and hoped to God this better be important.

"Urie here" He said wearily "What's up Saiko?" He didn't get an answer at first; he had to wait for five seconds until Saiko could answer in shaky and whispery breaths that sent Urie's senses on edge.

"U-u-urie" She said stammering, Urie could just see her now hiding under her duvet in her dark room, clutching her frog teddy to her cheats as her hands shook when she held the phone. Urie really hoped it was an actual emergency instead of Saiko calling to say that her Nintendo dog died or something...

"Saiko this better be important, I've got class soon" Urie said irritably wishing he had a coffee right now.

"No no no no it's important!" Saiko shirked down the phone that Urie had to pull is ear away a little "There are two strange men in the flat, they are sitting on the sofa and going through my cookie jar!"

Urie sighed and cursed Saiko's stupidity; he could guess who Saiko was talking about because of that one sentence but he decided to ask just in case.

"Ok and what do these two strange men look like?"

"W-w-well" Saiko stammered fearfully "One is small, black hair and stiches around his eyes and down his arms like Frankenstein's monster, but instead of having the taste for human flesh its eating my cookies!"

Ok…Urie wasn't sure if Frankenstein originally ate people but he knew better than to comment on it.

"Ok and what about the second man?" Urie asked then thought he could already guess what type of answer the girl would give him.

"H-he's really terrifying and really tall with sickly pale skin like Slender Man expect with hair and creepy look eyes, he has no irises! He looks like a serial killer, you know those ones that chop young pretty girls like me into pieces and keep the body parts safely in the fridge!"

Urie really wanted to bang his head against the table right now, it was like she was describing a ghoul.

"Saiko listen to me" Urie said calmly over Sakio's shaky breaths "If you don't over sleep during work hours or if you tried to at least pay a little bit attention to your surrounds you wouldn't be getting so worked up over nothing!" At this moment Urie was getting strange looks from passby's and people in the café.

"Huh?" Saiko said confused and shocked by Urie's outburst, he had to take a couple of breaths to calm himself down.

"Saiko the serial killers sitting on our sofa eating you're cookies are fellow investigators Juuzou Suzuya and Hanbee Abara, they are here to talk to us about Mutsuki's and Shirazu's incident. I'm sure that Shirazu is dealing with them right now…"

"No, he's not" Saiko said and Urie's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you talking about?" He asked solemnly, he hoped that he heard wrong or Saiko could be mistaken.

"I mean Shirazu in not the flat" Saiko said calmly "I went to make breakfast before the investigators came in and his shoes and coat were gone".

"Ok" Urie said calmly, he felt he had said that words ten times today but that wasn't the point. It looked like he had to skip second period "I'm on my way to the flat, please tell Suzuya and Abara that I'm on my way". And he hung up the phone before Saiko could say anything else, picked up his bag and headed to the exit. He had no time to worry about or call Shirazu, the idiot was probably slacking off somewhere and it was time to see Special Class Juuzou Suzuya.

Xxx

Shirazu breaths came out ragged and heavy as he tried to calm himself down, despite the pain in his hand which was getting sharper by the second. He tried to listen out for the sound of running footsteps of the neighbours or the receptionist, surly they must off heard his screams?

Yet no one came running. It was either that the people in this flat were all deaf or they were all used to hearing screams in this place and that was a frightening thought. The trapped investigator closed his eyes and focused on his breathing and thought that maybe if no one heard his screams then maybe they would head his pleas for help? But first he wanted to see what was hurting his hand.

He mustered up his courage and took another look under the bed a prepared himself for the worse. He was grateful that he did or he might have fainted right there.

Pierced into his hand was a thick long red muscle that looked like it came from a kagune that had popped out from the floorboards, went into a curve and buried itself though Shirazu's right hand. But Shirazu wondered how that was possible? If a kagune was in his hand that means that a ghoul must be under him, but why couldn't he hear any sign of movement? Why would the ghoul just leave him here? Why not eat him now?

There was only one way he could get the answer to that question. With his free left hand he tour at the broken carpet from around and kagune until his could see the floor board and he put his eyes to the gap. He could just about see the two ends of the kagune at the bottom, it seemed that the kagune had proper hooked its self around his hand but he couldn't see the owner of the steal like muscle.

Luckily Shirazu was a fast thinker and suddenly realised that this was a trap, the ghoul Nutcracker must of somehow detached her kagune and embedded it into the floorboards next to the important file and if some pesky investigator got into her flat and found the file the kagune would shot out and trap the investigator until the ghoul came home. Shirazu thought it was a cleaver plan and it seemed that his target was not just a pretty face, but a detachable Kagune? He couldn't remember learning anything like that in the Academy.

But it didn't matter now, he had to escape with the file and this new information on Nutcracker, surly this would give the CCG a warning advantage.

Shirazu suddenly with all his might tore at the wood of the floorboards, Shirazu didn't give a fuck if he was disturbing the neighbours down below. He knew he couldn't get the kagune out of his hand by himself but at least he could take the kagune with him.

Once he had tour out the floorboard around his hand he reached down with his free hand towards the end of the kagune. It was difficult using only hand but he managed to pull out the kagune from the bottom floorboards, then he cried out in the victory once it came loose so it now time to pull out the other end which was thinner and weaker than the other end since this was end that stabbed his hand.

It came out effortlessly and Shirazu couldn't help but sigh in relief. With his injured hand he still held on the file and with his free hand his pushed himself up using the bed, his figures going under the duvet and pile of junk. But just then Shirazu's fingers touched something under the duvet that wasn't meant to be there. It was soft, cold but solid and Shirazu felt his body freeze up.

Against his better nature he got up and using his free hand he ripped the duvet of the bed making the piles of clothes and objects crash down making the floorboards shake. Shirazu's eyes widened at the sight before him, now he realised why there was a strong stench of perfume: It was used to cover the stench of death. The piles of clothing on the bed where to hide the shape of the body that lay on the bed.

A young man, around twenty was a pale as a ghost and his eyes glassy and blue with a look of pain and terror along his face and of course his nuts had been torn out.

Shirazu screamed for the third time that day.

 **Horary finished collage until September so plenty of time to write so an early update! Seriously I really enjoyed writing this chapter I hope it's an improvement from last weeks chapter, I wasn't too happy with that one**

 **Oh by the way! What did you think of Hanbee being compared to Slender Man? I love Saiko and I'm glad she got her scene in this chapter. Oh and that fucking Urie! Not at least on bit worried about Shirazu and have you noticed that Mutsuki is in hospital and hasn't even wondered about him once! At least Saiko and Shirazu made the effort to visit him a few chapters back! Also I'm sure you can guess who Eto's dog is?**

 **I can't be bothered naming them today but thank you to the few who have reviewed on the last chapter. Seriously where did the rest of you run off too?**


	7. College Arc: Information

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 7: Information**

Urie was already doing the speed-walk towards his flat, he was there in less than five minutes and was now going up the lift to his floor. The elevator pinged and the sliding door opened letting the rank 3 investigator out, he moved towards his door while tiding himself up along the way.

The door was unlocked so Urie let himself in and was greeted with a loud clattering noise of Associate Special Class Investigator Juuzou Suzuya rooting though the kitchen cupboards while Rank 2 Ghoul Investigator Hanbee Abara was nibbling on a chocolate bar. The two investigators looked up when Urie slammed the door shut with a solemn expression on his face.

In normal circumstances Urie would be annoyed if anyone routed through his cupboards without permission but this was Suzuya they were talking about and this was perfectly normal behaviour for him.

"Welcome home Urie-kun!" Suzuya said grinning as he stood up and moved away from the cupboards empty handed, Abara who was a quiet man anyway nodded politely that the younger. Urie couldn't help but grit his teeth in annoyance _'don't speck so familiar with me'_ he couldn't help but think but he held it back.

"Special Class Suzuya and rank 2 Abara" Urie greeted politely with a slight bow "For what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked trying not to throw up in his mouth.

"Well" Suzuya started flopping back down on sofa next to Hanbee "This morning we went to visit Mutsuki-kun in the hospital, he seems to be doing well despite the blood-loss and the terror he must of gone through but he can't wait to be back home and he's even asked me to teach him some knife techniques while I'm here. I might take him in on one once he's ready on his feet".

' _Stupid Mutsuki, why does he have to be trained by a special class?'_ But Urie forced a smile and spoke in a friendly manner "Are you also here on the Torso investigation? I thought that was Mado's job?"

"Don't worry, Mado will be here sometime today she's has a lot of work to do at the headquarters before she can come to this town, no I'm more here to back you guys up I mean since the incident with Torso there is a possibility there might be more ghouls in the area probably because of the auction".

' _Just great!"_ Urie thought as anger rushed through his body, did they think that his squad wasn't capable? Well Urie certainly thought he himself was capable and would do just fine on his own it was his group that wasn't capable. And now once this was all over Suzuya and Abara were going to take all a credit or worse the credit would be spilt in to six! And it was all Mutsuki's fault!

"Its not that we think you guys are not capable" Hanbee said smiling, he seemed to able to read Urie's thoughts "It's just that the CCG's job is not just about fighting within Tokyo it also about protecting the outlining towns and villages, and if there is a possible chance of ghoul activity in one of these area's we need to stamp it out quickly as we can before it can spread an further, I hope you understand?"

"Of course" Urie nodded smiling "We are grateful for the help…" The last words chocked up in his mouth.

"It's no problem" Suzuya said smiling broadly "However it wouldn't hurt to have some more sweet things lying around the house, that blue haired girl looked horrified when she saw me going through her Cookie jar, I think I'm going to have to pay her back…"

"So anymore investigators coming?" Urie asked, not wanting to get off topic to the investigation to Saiko's cookies.

"Oh, yeah" Suzuya nodded in agreement suddenly turning very serious "Once we have the auction date, time and place squads will be moving in, those being Atou, Ooshiba, Mado and Hirako squad there will be others too but I can't remember them at the top of my head" Suzuya turned towards Hanbee for confirmation and the taller smiled and nodded.

"That's a lot of squad's" Urie commented as he sat down on the sofa across from the two investigators "So that means the CCG must be sure that the auction will take place in this town".

"Yes, or at least around the outside of town" Hanbee said, speaking for the first time now that he seemed to finish his chocolate bar "For weeks now the Tokyo wards have been quiet compared to resent years, there have been no sighting of Aogiri Tree members or on the Madams side and if what the witness reports say is true that some masked ghouls where seen coming towards this town and also with a dangerous ghoul like Torso running around it seems highly likely".

"But the problem is we don't know when or where the auction will take place" Urie said with his hands on his lap in thought, for all they knew the auction could be today.

"How far has your investigation gone?" Suzuya asked curiously, leaning forward on his seat.

"Well" Urie started "We haven't got much on the auction, Nutcracker or the Madams but Haise Sasaki has shown no ghoul like behaviour, though he likes his coffee he has lunch and chews on it like a normal human he doesn't even throw it up or show signs of illness".

"That's great" Suzuya said happily clapping his hands together "Investigate him for a week or two and if nothing changes you should be able to come back to Tokyo, but for now I don't want you to worry about Sasaki or Centipede".

"What!" Urie gasped, he couldn't keep his astonishment in "He's a highly dangerous SS ranked ghoul who's being wanted for nearly four years, now we have a lead and you want us to give up!"

Suzuya and Hanbee had a look of shock on their faces when Urie finished his outburst and where silent for a few seconds then Suzuya put his hand up in front of Urie and said in calm voice that sounded unusual for the small male.

"I didn't say you had to give up" Suzuya said solemnly, wanting to keep the meeting calm and civilized. Suzuya wasn't here to upset anyone but only to help "I'm just saying that the auction is the most pressing thing to worry about".

"Suzuya is right" Hanbee said gently with a stern tone in his voice "There is no point worrying about a ghoul who has not been sighted for four years, he could even be dead but for now let's worry about the ghouls who are alive and still active. They are the most dangerous at the moment".

Urie kept his mouth shut into a thin line, although he wished he could say something clever to prove the elder investigators wrong he could not. What Suzuya and Hanbee said made sense, the main problem lay within the Madams, Aogiri Tree and Nutcracker, they were the ones kidnapping people and selling them off but Urie couldn't shake of the feeling he had about Sasaki. Urie had no prove, but there was something strange about that collage teacher such as why it wasn't mentioned in his file that he had a younger sister? Surely if he showed Hinami Sasaki's file to Suzuya that would prove the uncertainly in the situation?

He was about to mention it when suddenly the door burst open with a loud crash and there stood Shirazu, red in the face and panting heavily with sweat in his hair and face. He had held up in the air a black folder like it was some kind of Olympic trophy but it was his other hand that the three investigators were looking at. It was red and bloody and right in the middle of his palm was a huge red muscle hooking itself though his hand.

"I (breath) found (breath) it…" Shirazu breathed out holding the folder high before collapsed to his knees. The three investigators rushed towards the kneeling investigator, Saiko had come out of her bedroom to see what the ruckus was about gasped with look of fear on her face when she walked forward to see Shirazu's hand.

"It looks like another trip to the hospital" Suzuya said with no smile nor humour in his voice.

Xxx

The last hour was a blur to Shirazu like a foggy dream that he had just woken up from. Once Shirazu discovered the body he dashed away from the apartment without looking back or closing the door behind him, he couldn't care less at that moment. He couldn't even remember if he passed anyone but once outside in the fresh air he started to slow down into a jog hiding his hand and the folder safely under his jacket.

Once the investigator got to the bus stop he sat down on the bench, he found himself trembling from head to toe. He must off looked a sight with his plan face and wide haunting eyes but if anyone noticed they didn't bother him.

The orange head investigator waited impatiently for the bus to come, the fear and horror of what he had seen was going through his mind like a broken tape recorder that he couldn't push back. He needed to get on that bus and away from that flat, he couldn't remember when he wanted to do something so badly. So when the bus came it was almost like a blessing.

But now at this very moment in time, just after Shirazu burst through his apartment Hanbee carried the sleeping investigator to his car with Suzuya and Saiko at his heals. Urie stayed behind and picked up the black folder that Shirazu dropped and opened up the file and flicked thought the pages as his eyes widened in shock. So it looked like Shirazu had his uses.

In this file was the guest list of the all ghouls that where attending the auction, by their nicknames of course but they were all there with the time and place of the auction. Urie smirked while reading this information, now the CCG had an advantage over the ghouls. They knew the time, date and place and it was all in Urie's hands.

Xxx

Shirazu awoke to the sound of rumbling around him and the sickly vibration of a car, he was seat belted in the back seat with Saiko sitting next him. The investigator rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times until he could see Saiko's face leaning over him with her eyes widened in fear and worry lines along her forehead.

"Saiko?" Shirazu's voice came out tiredly and he discovered that he was very thirsty. He sat put slightly but winced when he realised the pain in his hand.

"Don't move it!" Saiko cried out as she gently look Shirazu's injured hand in her own despite all the blood.

"What happened, where are we going?" Shirazu asked once he realised that he was in a car.

"Hanbee is taking us to the hospital" Suzuya answered turning his head to face the two investigators, the smaller investigator sat at the front in the passenger seat while Hanbee drove the car keeping his eyes on the road. "You collapsed once you entered the flat probably more out of tiredness, it's lucky that the kagune is blocking off most of the blood" Suzuya explained "So tell us what happened?"

Shirazu explained everything he could remember about finding Nutcrackers flat, the file, the kagune shooting out of the floorboards and the dead body. Once he had finished his tale the group had parked outside the hospital, the same one that Mutsuki is in. The group had listened to Shirazu's story with interest but Hanbee's and Suzuya's mouths where in a straight worried line, this was serious business someone had to be informed of the body but first Shirazu.

The four walked over to the hospital and Shirazu had some questions of his own, he turned towards Suzuya,

"What has happened to the folder?" Shirazu asked curiously "And this thing in my hand…" He gestured to his hand which hid under his coat "Is it a kagune? And why isn't it attached to the ghoul?"

"Don't worry about the folder" Suzuya said "Urie is taking care of it and as for your hand we won't for sure until we get it checked up but I think that is most certainly is a kagune and it seems going by your story Nutcracker can detach her kagune and use it for booby-traps".

"Is something like that even possible?" Shirazu couldn't help but ask "I can't remember learning about it at the Academy".

"It's because it's very rare and not something you rank 3's need to worry about" Suzuya smiled "which is kind of stupid to be honest since you never know what's going to show up on the job…".

Xxx

The doctors and nurses sure got a shock once they saw Shirazu's hand and got even more frightened once Suzuya explained what caused it. But the doctors couldn't really do anything since unlike in Tokyo this hospital wasn't used to dealing ghoul attacks so in the end the doctor used one of Shirazu's quinque knifes to cut it out and Shirazu had to undergo a quick hand surgery.

But he was all better and patched up now and was sitting on a temporary hospital bed while the doctors where checking the x-ray scans and filling out forms. Hanbee and Suzuya had left to contact the police and CCG of the incident and promised to back with information later, Mutsuki had also come to visit. The green haired investigator has been walking on clutches but he looked healthier and happier since Shirazu last seen him and the orange haired investigator had to tell his story for the second time that day.

Mutsuki was good listener and when he had finished the green haired investigator was full of optimum, now they knew where Nutcracker lived and the police or CCG were probably investigating as they spoke.

"I wonder why Hanbee and Suzuya were at our flat?" Mutsuki asked but Shirazu didn't have the answer, then the next minute Mutsuki was ordered back his bed leaving Shirazu alone with his thoughts.

He knew at some point the police and CCG would want to question him on what happened, Shirazu just wished that they would come and get it over with. Although he proud of himself that he had found Nutcrackers home and the folder that contained details on the auction Shirazu could stop the shame when he remembered how he panicked once he saw the dead body of that young man. Also how he ran away and trembled on the bus ride home.

Shirazu couldn't speck of his fear or shame, if he did they would think he was unfit to be an investigator and might take him of the investigation. Shirazu didn't want that but he could help but feel he might deserve it. He had been a coward and had ran at the first sign of a dead body, what kind of investigator did that? He knew it was part of the job to deal with dead bodies, sometimes you're friends and team mates died but the image of the blood drained body and lifeless eyes made him think; What if he himself ended up like that, what about Mutsuki, Saiko, Suzuya, even that dick Urie! He couldn't stand it if one of them ended up like that.

But isn't that why he joined the GGC in the first place? To stop the ghouls killing humans before their time had even begun? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice two CCG members enter his room.

"Rank 3 Ginshi Shirazu, we have some questions for you" A sudden familiar voice a young woman spoke out, interrupting Shirazu from his thoughts. He lifted his head up to see not only Suzuya in front of him but a tall blond woman with beautiful purple eyes and a young but stern face. A large smile brock out along Shirazu's face.

"Mado sensei what a pleasant surprise!"

Xxx

Shirazu hadn't been paying attention to the time, but because of all the events that had happened this morning it had quickly turned into evening and Ken Kaneki, Hinami Sasaki and Hideyoshi Nagachika where at home waiting for Touka and Chie to come. Besides from Kaneki finding out that Mutsuki and Shirazu where the victims in the taxi attack the rest of the day had gone uneventful. Kaneki had kept a close eye on Urie who had surprisingly got all his work done, there was no videoing that Kaneki noticed and Urie had come to his afternoon lessons as normal.

Hide's and Hinami's day had also been uneventful. Hide had tried to get more information on the case involving Torso but there was nothing. It seemed that the police where trying to keep the lesser detectives out of it as much as possible but Hide recognised a group of men and woman coming in carrying suitcases and wearing white coats. They were CCG investigators and the one he recognised the most was Akira Mado, but luckily she didn't take a second glance at him.

The two best friends had shared their information to each other and with Hinami, the group planned to share this information with Touka and Chie. Kaneki looked at the wall clock and it read five past six, _'those girls should have been here five minutes ago…"_ Kaneki thought, he was now nearing the end of his book as he was sat on the sofa while Hinami and Hide where at the kitchen table. Hide eating dinner and Hinami doing artist research on the laptop.

Finally there was a knock on the door, it was Hinami who answered the door first and welcomed Touka and Chie into the house. Chie came bouncing though the front door passed Hinami-chan and went straight to Kaneki and leaned over his shoulder.

"What are you reading Ken-san?" She asked innocently and wide eyed with curiosity. Kaneki showed her the front cover, it was a plain book with only one word written at the front, and it read

' _ **Sui'**_

"It's a pretty interesting book" Kaneki commented "It's a bit tragic but I haven't been able to put it down, it shame that's it's nearly finished"

"Tragic huh?" Chie's eyes widened in excitement "What's it about?"

"Well…" Kaneki began but he was interrupted by Touka.

"We are not here to have a book club" the ukaku ghoul said sternly and with a hard look in her eyes and checks flushed, Kaneki also noticed the dark purple aura radiating from her. Kaneki raised his eye-down questionably at Chie who just mouthed that she will tell him later as Touka sat on the sofa opposite Kaneki.

The group came together and to sit on the sofas, it seemed that Hide and Hinami had picked up on Touka's bad-mood because everyone (that included Hinami, Hide and Chie) had all squashed themselves on Kaneki's sofa. Chie had even taken the liberty to sit Kaneki's lap so there was more room but Kaneki couldn't complain. No one wanted to sit next to Touka when she had that purple aura around her, one wrong move and it was a knee to groin or worse. And trust him when Kaneki says that he and Hide including Tsukiyama and Nishiki had all been on the receiving end countless of times, it was worse for Hide because he was human so he sank lower in his seat making himself unnoticed as possible.

"Chie!" Touka snapped and the said girl halted to attention nearly smacking Kaneki in the chin. "Show them the photos!" Chie took out her laptop from her bag that Kaneki hadn't noticed she had been carrying. She opened it up and Hide and Hinami moved closer to see while Kaneki only had to look over her shoulder so he had quite a good view of pictures Chie was about to show him.

"These are photographs of ghouls who are expected to be at the auction" Chie explained as she opened up the file "These ghouls are known for supporting ghoul restaurants I think you might recognise some of them" Chie nodded at Kaneki as she made the pictures big on the scene. The first image Kaneki recognised imminently.

"That's Madam A" Kaneki pointed to a blond pretty woman sitting at a café with coffee and shopping bags in her hand "I thought she would be keep quite after our last meeting…" Kaneki commented, he had little interest in Maiko Abe, he just hoped that he wouldn't have to run into her anytime soon.

"That's right!" Chie nodded and flicked to the next image a young stern looking woman with short chin length black hair, Kaneki and the other two shook their heads. They did not recognise this woman at all.

"I'm shocked" Chie commented "I'm surprised Shuu hasn't mentioned her".

"Wait! Tsukiyama knows her?" Kaneki said, so why hasn't he seen her before?

"Her name is Matsumae" Chie answered "She is a teacher at Seinan Gakuin High School and used to be Shuu's homeroom teacher, she was also one of the Tsukiyama's family servants".

"I will have Tsukiyama-san tell me more about her" Kaneki said, he wondered what other ghouls he will see on the computer.

"I'm sure Shuu has told you about these two" Chie said pointing to two men on a photograph standing side by side with Shuu.

"They do look familiar onii-chan" Hinami commented saying something for the first time since Chie brought out the pictures, Hide didn't say anything he knew nothing of these ghoul and could only asked Kaneki for details later.

"The younger ghoul on the left is one of Tsukiyama's servants, Kanae von Rosewald" Kaneki answered for the younger ghoul "He came to the house one time I've only met him once, remember when we living with Banjou-san? Rosewald insisted on meeting me but I don't think he liked me very much" Kaneki remembered the feminine looking ghoul standing behind Shuu as he glared daggers at the while haired ghoul. He didn't know what Rosewald had it in for him but he hadn't seen the ghoul since.

"And the older dude?" Hide asked pointing to the older man in the photograph, he looked very well groomed and elegant with a fine moustache and small-rimmed glasses. Tsukiyama had shown Kaneki his picture before but had never met this man in person.

"His name is Mirumo Tsukiyama" Kaneki answered "He known to the CCG as Croque Monsieur and is also Shuu Tsukiyama's father".

Xxx

Mutsuki and Shirazu were now sitting at the back Hanbee's car, he had taken it in his duty to drive the two rank 3 investigators home. There was no way they will be taking a taxi anytime soon.

Shirazu had been questioned by Akira on what happened at Nutcracker apartment, once he had finished his story Akira was angry that he had decided to go off on his own into a Ghoul's flat but was pleased because now the CCG had the time and place of the ghoul auction so they could put their plans into place.

The two investigators had learnt from Hanbee that Akira and her squad had investigated Nutcrackers flat and had taken the dead body away, it had appeared he had been dead for 24 hours. The Mado Squad awaited for the ghoul to return home but she never did. Shirazu wondered where she could have gone.

Once back at home they had to take the lift since Mutsuki was on clutches. Once inside their flat they were welcomed warmly by Saiko, who was glad that the two could come out of hospital so soon. Although Urie didn't even look up, he was reading the photocopies of the black files papers, the original now belonged to Akira.

"Oi Urie!" Shirazu snapped addressing the purple haired investigator "is that the kind of welcome back we get?" He asked and Urie sighed keeping his annoyance at bay. Shirazu didn't have to be so loud.

"I'm just reading though the photocopy of Nutcrackers file" Urie answered not bothering to answer Shirazu's question.

"So do we know when the auction is going to be?" Mutsuki asked leaning over Urie's shoulder to take a better look at the file. Urie grinned and turned to the right page and pointed to the date.

It seemed that the auction was closer than they thought.

 **Wow this chapter is a little longer than the others, I'm all tired out now lol.**

 **So it seems the CCG have a head start compared to Kaneki and the gang, the next chapter is Wednesday and Hinami is coming into Kaneki's class will she be any help in discovering the new student's real motives? And what's up with Touka?**

 **I'm sorry if Suzuya's character is little off, he is hard character to write particularly as he's more grown up in RE.**

 **Wow 30 followers! Keep it up guys!**

 **Becky4ever1996**

 **P.S OMG Have u seen Sasaki's new hair style in this week's new chapter of TG:RE!? Sorry but I love that hair…**

 **By the ways I haven't done this yet but I say that obviously I don't own Tokyo Ghoul!**


	8. College Arc: Lesson

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 8: Lesson**

The next morning the alarm on Hinami's phone went off at half seven, a lot earlier than a usual Wednesday since it's meant to be her day off but today was a special day and she awoke with a excitement and determination. Today she was going to be sitting in on her big brothers lessons and hopefully prove her use in unravelling the mystery behind her brother's new students.

The young ghoul climbed out of bed, took a quick shower before getting dressed and headed down stairs and to her surprise she heard her brother's voice. She reached the bottom step to find Kaneki sitting at the kitchen table with a large coffee mug in his hand and the phone in the other, he seemed to be finishing off a conversation with someone. Hinami stood still by the entrance keeping quiet and watching her brothers back, he was slouching and his hair was messier than usual mornings.

Hinami wondered how long the half-ghoul had been up, she had heard from Hide that he had some sleepless night and that his nightmares were coming back but he refused to talk about them. Hinami felt sadness wash other her like a giant wave, she loved Kaneki like her the brother she never had but she couldn't help but hate it when he wouldn't talk about his own troubles even when he tried so hard to fix everyone else's.

And Hinami couldn't do anything about it.

The younger ghoul was lost in her sea of emotions that she didn't notice Kaneki put the phone down and jumped in surprised when he noticed the girl standing there. The half-ghoul nearly knocked other his coffee it was only then was Hinami snapped out of her thoughts.

"Hinami?" Kaneki explained once he calmed down "How long had you been standing there?" Hinami forced a smile.

"Not long" She explained reassuringly "I had only just come down a second ago, who were talking too?" Hinami couldn't help but asked, Kaneki smiled as he stood up to put the phone back in the holder.

"I was just talking to Tsukiyama-san" He answered "Would you like some coffee?" He asked quickly, Hinami nodded and Kaneki talked while he was making his sisters coffee. "I was asking him about his father and Rosewald and also some more information on Matsumae".

"Well what did he have to say?" Hinami asked as she waited for water to boil.

"Well Tsukiyama didn't know much because he's been in France for past month and hasn't had much contact with his family, but he didn't know anything about the auction and was surprised to hear the three names mentioned". Kaneki explained "But he did give me some information if one of them decides to attack us, so listen carefully".

Hinami nodded determined to learn this new information.

"Matsumae is a Rinkaku type" Kaneki explained then Hinami interrupted,

"So like you?" She said but Kaneki shook her head,

"Not really" He said solemnly "Tsukiyama also said that she has the rare ability to detach her kagune".

"Is that even possible!" Hinami gasped, she watched her brother stir the coffee and hand it to her.

"I've heard rumours about it" Kaneki said taking a sip of his own coffee "But I've never seen it done before and I have no idea how it works, I mean there must be a certain disadvantage to detaching a kagune but until I learn more about it let's try to avoid Matsumae if she's here".

"But what about that Kanae von Rosewald and the father, Mirumo Tsukiyama I think his name was?" Hinami had a hard time grasping onto the fact that Tsukiyama had parents.

"Tsukiyama-san hasn't had much communication with his father after he join me to take down the ghoul restaurants four years ago" Kaneki explained before finishing his coffee in one gulp and he put it back in the sink "But he reassured me that that his father is too 'upper-class' to fight for himself, he would have paid ghouls fighting for him probably Matsumae and maybe von Rosewald".

"Tsukiyama-san also seemed a bit reluctant to talk about Kanae" Kaneki looked a little uneasy "But told me he's strong but he's not as strong as Tsukiyama-san so he shouldn't be too much of a problem, like me he's a Rinkaku type". The half-ghoul winked smiling.

"It seems that we haven't got much to worry about" Hinami said hopefully but she knew that was wrong, there was still the CCG and other Aogiri Tree to worry about and Kaneki also seemed to be having the same thought because he had a look of concern on his face and his eyes seemed to find the kitchen sink very interesting. Suddenly a loud and cheerful voice brock them out their thoughts.

"Well this has started off a happy morning!" Kaneki and Hinami felt themselves jump out of their skin especially for Kaneki since it was his second fright today. They both turned to see Hide leaning against the wall by the stairs with a smug look on his face and eyes closed, he seemed pretty impressed with the two ghouls face expressions.

"Honestly, is everyone in this house set upon giving me a heart attack?" Kaneki shouted in annoyance, could ghouls even get heart attacks?

Hide just laughed at his friend's reaction "honestly I thought you two where ghouls, surly one of you would have heard me coming down the stairs or smelt me close by".

"Of course we can smell you, you live here!" Kaneki said wanting to face-palm himself "You're scent is all over the place!"

"How long have you been standing their?" Hinami asked, now knowing how Kaneki felt a few minutes before.

"Probably since Kaneki told you that he was talking to Tsukiyama-san" Hide walked further into the room "I wouldn't worry about the Tsukiyama family at the moment, we don't even know for 100% that they coming so let's just worry about the CCG for now".

"You're right" Kaneki said nodding then he turned to Hinami "Are you sure you want to come to my class today?" He asked the female ghoul "it could be dangerous if Urie-kun is working for the CCG".

"I'll be careful I promise" Hinami said hand on heart with fire in her eyes, she was going to prove her powers can be useful, she knew Kaneki and Hide knew this but she had to prove to herself that she was capable and can be a part of the team as much as everyone else.

After getting washed, dressed and organised the trio set off to their assigned occupations, all three hoping that today was the day that they make a break-though.

Xxx

By half past eight Urie, Shirazu, Mutsuki and even Saiko where hanging about in the collage café waiting until it was time to go to class. The group was sitting around a small table in the corner, Saiko was playing on her old Gameboy, Shirazu was picking at his shark like teeth, Mutsuki was catching up on the homework he missed the other day and Urie was the only one thinking about the investigation. But his thoughts were interrupted when Mutsuki tapped him on the shoulder and pointed.

"Hey, I think Sasaki-sensei coming this way?" Urie, Shirazu and Saiko looked towards the direction where Sasaki was coming towards them, he looked a little tired but he greeted them with a happy smile on his face.

"Mutsuki-kun, Shirazu-kun" The teacher explained with a look of surprise on his face "I didn't expect you two back so soon!" He took note of Mutsuki's clutches and Shirazu's bandaged hand, of course Sasaki didn't know about Shirazu's incident from yesterday so he just assumed that he got it from the taxi accident.

"Oh yeah" Shirazu grinned showing his bandaged hand to Sasaki "It's just a cut is all and I'm ambidextrous so I can still write".

"And it's only my foot that hurts" Mutsuki reassured "Besides I still have a month's work to catch up on!"

Sasaki nodded understandingly "Well if you two start feeling ill or are in too much pain you're welcome to have the day off".

"Thank you sensei!" Shirazu and Mutsuki thanked then Sasaki turned towards Saiko.

"And you Yonebayashi-kun, how are you feeling Urie told me you were ill yesterday?" Saiko started at the sensei and blinked before saying with a slight smile.

"It was just a stomach bug, I feel better now" Sasaki smiled and patted the young woman on the shoulder affectingly which surprised her, then he bide them goodbye and that he would see them in lesson.

"How long do we have him today?" Mutsuki asked once the teacher was a good distance away from the café.

"All morning" Shirazu answered a little grumpy then he turned towards Urie "Have you discovered anything unusual about him yet?"

"No" Urie lied, he hadn't told his group or the CCG that Sasaki had a sister and cursed himself for nearly telling Suzuya. No, if the credit was going too shared he might as well have a little something to back him up and Hinami Sasaki was his key.

"Oh that's good" Shirazu said "Give it couple more weeks then we can go back to Tokyo!"

"And it would be a shame if he was a ghoul particularly if he was Ken Kaneki" Mutsuki said with glee.

"You mean Centipede?" Shirazu corrected

"Or Eyepatch" Saiko said quietly, the others missing the grim look on her face.

Xxx

Kaneki was walking up to class, he decided to take the stairs so he had more time for his thoughts to sink in.

He wasn't sure if she would feel glad or worried that all four of his new students were here today when he had Hinami sitting in his class. The negative or maybe the 'conscientious' part of Kaneki was saying that if those four were CCG investigators then the more danger he and Hinami were in, what if bringing Hinami into his class was exposing to the investigators that she see could also be a ghoul? They would be watching Hinami like a bird watches its prey! What if she slipped something up that might suggest her to be a ghoul? Or they noticed something 'unhuman' about her.

He shook those thoughts from his head and tried to listen to the reasonable or more optimistic side of this brain that said the Hinami wasn't stupid, she had been posing as a normal human since they came to this town and had been doing a very good job of it as she was able to eat in front of friends and was doing very well in her lessons. And besides even if the CCG did work out she was a ghoul she could easily handle them herself with both her rinkaku and koukaku kagune and her privet lessons with Kaneki were giving her the skill and the knowledge to fight and not just in strength.

Also there was a good chance that the more possible CCG investigators there are the more Hinami could learn and there was also the chance that they might discuss between each other what they had learnt. But as soon as Kaneki reached out to push the door to enter the third floor his thoughts were interrupted by a fellow staff member calling his name.

"Haise-kun!" he turned in surprise towards the elderly female teacher behind him, _honestly what was it with people making him jump today?_ He smiled pleasantly at the woman, she was small in size barely reaching Kaneki's upper body, he guessed she was probably around fifty years old with her neat grey hair tied in a bun on top of her head and he face look more winkled due to smiling to much or being out in the harsh weather too long more than age.

Kaneki had a respect for this woman, when he first started working at this college she had taken him under her wing and took the time to make sure he was settling in ok and always had some helpful tips and advice to give. They had a strong friendship.

She also taught his form students Asian History.

"Honda-san!" the young half-ghoul smiled giving a small respectful bow "You surprised me then, is there something you need?"

The older shook her head "You don't need to be so respectful with me Haise-kun" She said kindly "We are good friends are we not?"

"Well of course we are" the male smiled broadly as he straightened himself up "Is something wrong?"

"In face Haise-kun there is" The woman said with a sudden sadness in her voice "I'm afraid this no casual friendship meeting, I understand Yonebayashi, Shirazu and Mutsuki were off collage yesterday due to unfortunate circumstances but I thought that Urie-kun would still be attending his lessons as normal?"

"Of course he is" Sasaki nodded "He came to my lesson as normal yesterday morning and was in the afternoon, did he not attend you're lesson yesterday?"

"No, he didn't" Honda shook her head worryingly "That's why I came to ask you about it"

"Well I have him this morning" Kaneki said "I will have a word with him, do you want me to send him up to your class room at break time?"

"Oh no" The old woman smiled reassuringly "There is no good forcing those who don't want to learn all we do is try to point them to the right path which I know you yourself are capable of". Kaneki couldn't but swell with pride at her words, having being complemented by this woman always made him want to work harder. The main reason that Kaneki liked this woman was because she always remained him of a certain old Manger that used to work at Anteiku…

"Alright then" Kaneki nodded taking her words into account "I'm sorry but I have a class to go to" and like that the two parted ways, Honda-san going back down stairs to the second floor while Kaneki pushed open the door to the third floor who was suddenly in a better mood.

Xxx

Hinami was sat on one the benches outside the staff room when she noticed her onii-chan walking towards her with a slight smile on his face that Hinami hadn't seen for nearly two days. But it wasn't a fake smile it was genuine hopeful smile it not a little devious. Did her brother have a plan?

"You look happy" Hinami said as Kaneki came closer,

"Of course I am" Kaneki said "I've just spoken to someone who has giving me a flash of inspiration" He paused as he leaned in closer to Hinami so he could whisper "I learnt something strange from Honda-san, she told me that Urie skipped her class yesterday". This perked Hinami's interest.

"But you said yesterday that he was in your lessons both in the morning and in the afternoon?"

"Yes he was" Kaneki nodded in agreement "So he either doesn't like History or he had to leave at some point in that time and also what was the point of him coming back to my class in the afternoon?"

"It is a little strange…" Hinami said putting her hand on her chin in thought "Are you going to mention it to him?"

"As his form tutor I will have to" Kaneki shrugged "He might even talk about it to his three friends".

"But I thought Mutsuki and Shirazu were meant to be staying at home, they had just come out of hospital!" Hinami gasped but Kaneki just shook his head.

"Well I've never seen such diligent students…" He said with a sigh but his face suddenly turned solemn as he met Hinami's eyes "Remember, all four of them are here so the stakes are higher but it also means we grain more information. If you plan to go through with this you have to be extra careful".

Hinami nodded in understanding "I will be careful, I won't even have to talk to them". Kaneki nodded satisfied then he had to go to staff room to collect his notes for today's class and Hinami waited outside.

Xxx

At nine o'clock Urie, Shirazu, Mutsuki and Saiko where sitting on the middle row of the lecture room with the rest of the students. Many of their peers have come up to Shirazu and Mutsuki asking if they were ok and how they got their accidents, of course the two didn't say anything.

The group was almost relived when Sasaki came into the class room and shouted to everyone to get back in their seats. The students suddenly scurried back to their places and Sasaki walked further into his class room and to everyone's surprise a young woman was at his heals.

"Who the hell is that?" Shirazu whispered to Urie but the purple haired investigator didn't answer he was too busy staring at the brown haired girl before him as he suddenly felt that extra credit slip from his gasp. Now the rest of his squad was going to know about Hinami Sasaki and credit was going to be spilt further,

"This is Hinami Sasaki!" The sensei announced putting arm out towards the girl "She is my sister and does Art here at this collage but today on her day off she has decided to observe this class, so please everyone be nice to her and be on your best behaviour".

"I can't remember the report saying that Sasaki-sensei had a sister" Mutsuki whispered, even Saiko was on full alert so none of them noticed the hatred boring in Urie's eyes as he stared at the two 'ghouls'.

Hinami walked up the stairs and to the surprise of the four CCG investigators she sat right next to Saiko at the end of the seat.

"Ok…" Sasaki started begin his class but Urie wasn't listening for the blood was pumping in his ears out of anger and hatred for the teacher in front of him, had Sasaki done this on purpose? To take away his credit? Obviously Urie wasn't thinking straight at this point and didn't notice how uncomfortable the other three looked.

Mutsuki and Shirazu were basically thinking the same thing for none of them could remember any family info on Haise Sasaki on the report or hearing about it from any of their fellow investigators. In fact Ken Kaneki wasn't said to have any siblings either. Mutsuki risked a glance at Hinami then at Sasaki, none of them had any close family features expect for their last name but names could be changed, what if they weren't siblings at all? Mutsuki didn't know why that would be important but what troubled him more was the fact why did Hinami have Haise's last name? Where they adopted sibling? Where these two hiding something? He hoped not.

However all Saiko was thinking was why is this girl sitting next to me? And where did she come from?

The four rank three investigators were so mixed up in their thoughts and feelings that they didn't realised that their mysterious teacher had asked them a question.

"Mutsuki-kun, Shirazu-kun, Yonebayashi-kun, Urie-kun are you four even listening to me?!" Sasaki snapped jumping the students out of their thoughts. The four stared blankly at their teacher not knowing what to say or what the lesson was even about. Kaneki took note of their blank faces and sighed in annoyance,

"I will ask it again" He said, he asked the question again _**(Note: I don't know what kind of literature stuff they would teach college students in Japan but I'm guessing it's not Shakespeare so please bear with me).**_ But evenwhen the question was asked the four still didn't understand.

"Oh come on guys" Sasaki sighed "we discussed this topic ten minutes ago, who else can help out their fellow students?" Just then to everyone surprise Hinami stood up and answered the question almost perfectly, the others stared at her in amazement despite being in the class for less than half an hour she had answered a question better than all the class put together. Never the less Sasaki was impressed, this was little 'sister' after all.

"Very well done Hinami-chan!" Sasaki praised the girl who was beaming madly "If only you had chosen the path of literature instead of Art…." The teacher sighed mockingly and went back to the lesson, the others making sure to listen this time.

Xxx

Once the lesson had ended for break everyone moved out the room desperate for a well needed toilet break. The four investigators were about to leave until the teacher called out.

"Urie-kun!" Sasaki called out "Can you wait here for a moment?" Urie breathed a sigh of frustration, if he had to be honest Sasaki was the very last person he wanted to see at this moment. The other three shared a look with him clearly worried, then Urie turned his back on them accidently brushing shoulders with Hinami who was going the opposite way towards the door including his three squad members.

"Anything you needed Sensei?" Urie asked so soon as the door closed behind them, the investigator kept his voice pleasant enough but he hoped that the glare in his eyes and the face expression was enough to back the teacher off. But if Sasaki noticed Urie's mood he didn't reacted to it.

"Well I just spoke to your History teacher this morning" Sasaki started seating himself at his desk making himself look important "She said you skipped class yesterday" He said slowly awaiting Urie's reaction but the student in front of him kept his face neutral and calm though he didn't like the angry look in his eyes. "Can you explain why you didn't go to class?"

"I went to visit Mutsuki at the hospital" Urie lied.

"That's fine but couldn't you have visited after college?" The teacher asked "You can't avoid to skip class Urie-kun, you are already a month behind everyone else".

"I understand Sensei" Urie said, he didn't want to argue he wanted to leave before he found himself stabbing this teacher with the quinque in his bag. Luckily this simple talk seemed to work with Sasaki because he didn't know what else to say, he was sure the teacher was expecting an argument and this put the teacher off guard.

"Ok" Sasaki nodded with a hint of frustration in his voice "Next time you need go early come to see me about it first". Urie didn't say anything after that, he just turned his back on the teacher and marched out the room slamming the door shut with a bang.

 **Oche! Urie's a bit pissed off now lol**

 **Seriously guys, only one review for the last chapter? I'm happy on the amount of followers I get but I like knowing what my readers think and it gives me drive to update faster and write longer chapters, when there is no reviews I feel like I'm doing something wrong in my story.**

 **I plan to get this first part of the series done before the end of July so I can start the second part in August, that's how long this story is going to take to write and we haven't got long until the auction raid but there is some things that need to be addressed before that can happen such as character development and relationships Kan(cough) kie(cought) and Tou(cough) ka.**

 **This was more of a set up for the next chapter, which I can't wait to start writing.**

 **I hope you stick with me**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	9. College Arc: Fear

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 9: Fear**

Once Urie was out the classroom he slammed the door shut behind him and was surprised to see all three of his squad members standing in front of him with looks of shock on their faces. But Urie didn't care what his team mates thought of him, in fact he didn't care for them at all since they were all just stepping stones to his goal of promotion. He would bet all three of these investigators would be killed before they even made rank 1.

"Are you ok Urie" Mutsuki asked who looked the most concerned about Urie's well-being. Urie couldn't help but think how poor and naïve Mutsuki was sometimes, he was too trusting and didn't see the bigger picture.

"Yeah you look a little flustered" Saiko said with a cheeky smirk across her chubby face as she winked at the foul mood investigator. Urie hardly ever noticed Saiko, she was one of those who could be pushed aside and no one would care or notice due to her un-usefulness. Urie didn't even know why she had joined the CCG in the first place.

"Yeah, what was it about anyway" Shirazu asked "Whatever it was he didn't give you detention did he?" Shirazu, Urie thought was by far the most annoying guy he had ever had the un-pleasure to meet. Shirazu was stupid, rash, lazy and gullible yet this is the same guy who brock in to Nutcrackers flat, found information on the auction and discovered that Nutcracker could detach her kagune. There was no doubt that the shark toothed investigator was going to get an award for his efforts.

This thought only made Urie even more determined to uncover Sasaki's and Hinami's identity, they were his best chance for promotion, his recognition. All that Juuzou Suzuya had said yesterday had blown over his head, Haise Sasaki _was_ Ken Kaneki or else Urie had nothing to go on.

"Don't be a shit head Shirazu this isn't a high school" Urie snapped furiously the three cringed taking a step back from the fuming investigator. Urie wasn't the one to show extreme emotion so this was a new side to Urie that the three investigators didn't know how to deal with, so they just kept their mouths zipped tight.

"Where is that Sasaki-girl?" Urie demanded to know, it was Shirazu who had the courage to speck.

"She went to the toilets" The orange haired investigator said pointing his thumb further down the corridor where the ladies toilets where. The purple head gave a frustrated sigh and walked in the opposite direction towards lift, the others following at a good distance knowing that Urie needed his space.

Xxx

While the four rank three investigators were walking to the lift Hinami Sasaki was listening to their conversation with eyes closed and her back leaning against the door. It would be difficult for a normal ghoul since the ladies toilets where eight classrooms away from Sasaki's class and since two other girls where in the stalls blabbering back and forth to each other it would be hard to concentrate. But Hinami was special, she could pick out the sounds and concentrate on one section at a time, she was able to block out the chatter of the girls and the rest of the noise in the college and then pick out the four people she wanted hear.

Out of the four she was listening too it was Urie's sound waves that came out the strongest. Another gift Hinami was developing was that if she concentrated hard enough she could sense a person's mood-swing or an emotional vibe. Hinami felt it when she sat down in class next to Saiko, all that anger and frustration was radiating off Urie that she didn't need to concentrate to feel it. It had seemed that most of his anger was directed to her and her brother but why? What had Kaneki done to Urie?

She could hear the footsteps of the four students getting further and further away, probably towards the life. Suddenly Hinami's concentration was broken when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder, her eyes snapped open and came face to face with a fair skinned girl with green blue eyes and messy blond hair trailing down her back. She looked concerned and spoke to Hinami softly,

"Are you ok love?" She asked worryingly "I've like called you three times but you looked out of it, are you feeling ok?"

Hinami stared at the girl until she was able to shake herself awake, she nodded her thanks to the confused girl and she quickly left the toilets and did the speed-walk towards the lift. She passed her onii-chan's classroom door but she didn't stop, now that they were on a break this was the perfect time to spy on her four targets and given Urie's mood he was likely to spill something.

She pressed the button for the lift and went down to the bottom floor, the door slid open and she stepped out into the hall where students and teachers alike where busily walking down halls to get to class or break or they were idly chatting to their friends in the other courses.

There was no way she was going track her targets sound waves in this mess of a crowd, she was just going to have to use the detective skills her brother showed her if she wanted to find them quickly.

They only had fifteen minutes so she doubted they could off gone to the library so she decided to try the most likely place which would be the café. The young ghoul quickly walked to the café, trying not bump into to anyone but once she was at the café, half a minute later the people she was looking for weren't there.

Hinami wanted to cry in defeat, she could be missing something really important yet were could of they have gone? She only had less than ten minutes until part two of class and she didn't want to go back to her onii-chan empty handed.

That was until her large honey brown eyes were drawn to the large window that looked out to the side of the college where plants and trees were planted and the ground was nicely cobblestones and benches were scattered around by random. On one of these benches where four people who seemed deep in their conversation, these four people where her targets.

Suddenly Hinami turned and bolted towards the side door which separated the café from the outside. The doors automatically slip open for her and the four didn't notice that she was only a few feet away from them. Even though the day was sunny and warm with spring air the outdoor area was peaceful, it seemed that the other students rather sit inside away from the fresh air or rather do extra work so it wasn't hard for Hinami to find a nice quite bench not too far from her targets.

She sat down, closed her eyes and rested her head on the table and put up the hood of her hoodie on her head so it looked like she was sleeping, then she listened to what was left of their conversation.

"…hacking device that Mado gave us we should find some more information on her" Shirazu said and Hinami found herself shivering slightly at that one sentence. No doubt by 'her' he probably meant Hinami but it was the name 'Mado' that made her shiver, also what did they mean by hacking device?

"I don't know…" Mutsuki said with uncertainly in his voice "We are only meant to use that in emergency, why don't we just contact the CCG about it? Surly they would have more information than the college database would?"

"Stupid" Urie mumbled "If they had information on her it would also be on Haise Sasaki's profile, she must be using a fake name under a fake birth certificate ghouls do that all the time".

"But surly it's something worth reporting if she's not of the system?" Mutsuki argued back "people aren't meant to have fake ID's"

"Maybe" Urie shrugged, he seemed to have calmed down a bit since his talk Hinami's brother "But it's the male Sasaki we are interesting in" He said tapping his index finger on the table "Stuff like faking names is the polices job to sort out not the CCG, besides Ken Kaneki wasn't said to have any siblings".

"You know if I didn't know any better Urie" The other male, Shirazu said "It sounds like you don't want the CCG knowing about Hinami Sasaki's existence?"

There was a few second pause of tense silence, Hinami had to admit that Shirazu did have a point that Urie wanted to keep Hinami a secret. But why? Hinami didn't know Urie and she was sure that Urie didn't know her so he couldn't be protecting her? No, he wasn't, she remembered the waves of anger pouring out of Urie when he saw her. Was he angry because he wanted to kill Hinami himself? If so it would explain why the other three looked confused when they saw her and Urie didn't.

"Don't be stupid Shirazu" Urie snapped who sounded disgusted by the others suggestion "I just don't want to waste the CCG's time, they have more important things to worry about since Nutcracker and Torso have been sighted, plus the ghouls are having holding their auction this Friday and the squads have only two days to prepare".

Wait, this Friday? If Hinami wasn't a carful person she would have gasped in shock. Today was Wednesday that meant the auction was two days away, this was surly important information to go away with but the only problem Hinami had was that she didn't know where the auction was going to be held, but surely Urie and his group must know that already.

"Your right" Mutsuki said, although the quite investigator still sounded unconvinced. As if to change the topic Mutsuki turned towards the blue haired girl who hadn't spoken a word since. "Hey Saiko, you have the time?"

"It's almost eleven" The girl said with a yarn in her voice, Hinami wondered if she had been asleep this whole time.

"Yeah, we should get going" Shirazu said standing up "Urie is in enough trouble with Sasaki as it is"

"Like I care" The purple haired investigator mumbled as he stood up from his seat and Mutsuki and Saiko followed suite. "Hey who the hell is that?" Urie asked suddenly and Hinami knew they must of noticed her pretending to sleep, she was suddenly grateful for the hood.

"Do you think she heard anything?" Shirazu said worryingly

"I don't know but I think we should leave" Mutsuki said "I think she's asleep…"

"But then shouldn't we wake her up or she will miss her class…" Shirazu said and Hinami could hear his footsteps coming towards her, she tried to keep her breathing even but inside her heart was hammering in fear of being caught, she almost breathed a sigh of relief when Urie stopped him.

"Forget it" He said with venom in his voice "If she misses her class it's her own fault, let go"

And like that the four left and walked passed Hinami without a second glance. She didn't put her head up until their footsteps sounded little more than a quite echo. She pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket, she had already made her decision, if those four knew the date of the auction then they would probably know the time and place and the best way to find that was going into their home and seek it out.

But first she needed to send a quick text to her onii-chan.

 _ **Onii-chan! Ur 4 new students are working 4 the CCG! They hav come to investigate u to c if u r Ken Kaneki. They also seem to know the date of the auction I'm going to find out where they live and see if I can get into their house, they must have some info on the time and place of the auction, please don't worry and I will back before lunch.**_

 _ **Luve**_

 _ **Hinami.**_

 _ **P.S Be careful of Urie, for some reason he has it in 4 both of us.**_

Xxx

Ken Kaneki was sitting at his desk with the phone in his hand and his other clenching the desk. He was staring at the text message he had just gotten from Hinami-chan, he re-read it and re-read it until he could accept the message in front of him as fact.

He thought he had told Hinami not to do anything dangerous! He hoped that Urie or any of the other three hadn't spotted her, this message confirmed to Kaneki that his new students were working undercover for the CCG and trying to learn more this 'Haise Sasaki'. They also seemed to be investigating the auction as well and it was set to be on this Friday, this meant that there were going to be even more CCG investigators floating around town. If they hadn't done so already.

Kaneki tried to calm himself down, he could feel panic boiling up in him like a volcano ready to erupt, his heart was pounding at marathon pace, his head clouding and blocking out reasonable thoughts. Maybe he should just take Hide's advice, tell the college he and Hinami were ill and hide at the house until it all cleared off?

No! Kaneki felt a fit of madness starting to creep into his brain like an insect, there was no one to look at him at this moment so he had no problem of banging his head against the wood of his desk making this papers and pens scatter to the floor, but he took no notice.

He banged his head against the table again then again the third time. It's didn't hurt him, the bump healed in seconds and Kaneki had faced worse than bashing himself on a hard surfaces, it was habit he had come to do when he felt his cowardly madness taking its control on him. He found that the shock waves of the hard impact sometimes cleared the haze out of his head and shocked him back into reality but sometimes it just wasn't enough. Sometimes he needed Hide, Hinami or Touka to comfort him, but luckily today he didn't them. His mind was working already making him see common sense.

No, Hinami was in no danger. As long all four of his new students came to his class after break and if Hinami came back before lunch time she was safe as there was no one there to enter the house. Also hiding wasn't an option, like he said to Hide it would look strange if he didn't come in while the CCG were investigating and he also had his duty as a teacher. There was no way some crappy substitute teacher was taking over his lessons!

Beside what about Touka? He and Hinami weren't the only ones in danger if the CCG were looking for ghoul activity. He would have to warn her! He picked up his phone again and was able to find her number until the door opened and Kaneki couldn't help but jump when he turned to see four familiar faces outside the door.

"Sensei are you ok?" Mutsuki asked and he noticed the sheets of paper and pens scattered on the floor around Kaneki's desk,

"Yeah you look a little ill sensei" Shirazu commented as he walked further into the class room and started to pick up sheets of paper, Saiko rushed to help him while Mutsuki just stood there wanting to help but couldn't due to his clutches and Urie stood there uncaring.

"I'm fine thank you" Kaneki said forcing a smile as he took the papers and pens of the two students "It was just an accident, the others should be here soon so can you please take you're seats while I make a quick phone call".

The half-ghoul said as he put the papers on the desk and walked out the room not looking back at the four students.

Xxx

It wasn't hard for Hinami to find the address she wanted, all she had to do was go to the reception desk at the college and say she needed to deliver some homework they had missed. It turned out that Mutsuki, Urie, Saiko and Shirazu lived only a five minutes away from the college in one of the student flats. The four of them lived on the third floor in room 013 and it wasn't hard for Hinami to find, she remembered going up on the third floor to visit one of her class mates one time.

Luckily for her Shirazu wasn't the only one who knew how to break into locks, Hide who was in to spy equipment and detective stuff had taught Hinami how to pick locks. It was a very useful skill to have and Hinami never went anywhere without a lock picking kit in her bag.

Once she had found the door belonging to the CCG members, she had to put down her college bag and rustled though pens, stench books and scrap paper until she found the little of box she needed.

Of course Hinami wasn't as experienced as Shirazu and it look her between fifteen to twenty minutes to get it open, she needed to hurry because she promised her onii-chan she would be back by lunch. She opened the door and stepped inside the simple decorated flat, despite the flat being housed to three guys and one girl the place was surprisingly clean. Very similar to her own house the living room and the kitchen were in one big room, there was also a desk with draws and a laptop.

Hinami suddenly interested went other to that area and made herself comfortable on the desk chair, this must have been one of Hinami's lucky day's because the first thing she did was pull at the drawer fixed into the table and she was greeted by a series of papers that have been stapled together and there was also a blue file that looked quite new.

Hinami then carefully picked up one of the stapled pages and her eyes widened in shock and fear as she clutched the papers tighter in her shaking hands. It consisted of four pages, on the front was an image of her brother-figure, Kaneki from four years ago with a list of information about where he lived, his parents, his education, medical record, everything. It was nothing that Hinami didn't know before but going by the amount of information and the logo at the top at each page this file was put together by the CCG.

She picked up the other papers, the next one was about Eyepatch/Centipede an image of Kaneki with his old shock of white hair and mask standing on a roof was printed on the paper with a list of places he had been sited and how many he might have killed. There was also images of marks his kagune makes when being used, she didn't want to read all of it so she put the papers back and took out the next two that looked thinner.

To no surprise Haise Sasaki was there with the details that were forged and there was also one page with Hinami's name printed on with a profile image of her when she first enrolled onto the college. She couldn't help but feel glad that there was hardly any information on her but there was so much Ken Kaneki, and to be honest it was rather creepy.

Hinami needed to show these to her Onii-chan and Onee-chan, she took out her phone and started to take pictures of all the pages in front of her. This information was important because it showed how much the CCG knew about them. Once she had finished she looked at her watch and was surprised how much time had passed, it was quarter to twelve. She had fifteen minutes to get back to the college until the four investigators will be coming home. But she couldn't leave yet, yes she had got some important information but it wasn't the info she was look for.

Her eyes were drawn to the new blue folder in the desk, she picked it up and turned the front cover and there was quick introduction, it read:

 _This is photocopied pages taken from the S ranked ghoul Nutcracker containing information_

 _On the upcoming auction that is to take place_

 _Friday 13_ _th_ _June 2015_

Hinami was about to turn the next page until she turned to hear a loud knock on the front door…

Xxx

It was quarter to twelve and Ken Kaneki sitting at the desk in front of his class pretending to be reading papers, flicking them over now and again so it made it seem he was working to the rest of the class and not fretting over his sister's whereabouts. He had sent a quick text to Touka telling her what Hinami was doing and what she had said in the text and he was still waiting for a reply.

He had set the student's on a task of reading and analysing on of the chapters of the book they were studying, usually Kaneki would turn it into a class discussion and read though it together while writing notes on the board but he didn't think could concentrate at this moment. He kept watching the clock ever so slowly and cruelly moving its minute hand number by number.

He kept glancing at his phone awaiting Touka or Hinami to text back or glance at the door expecting Hinami to walk in any moment apologising for her lateness.

But it never came.

Instead Kaneki was snapped out of this thoughts by a sudden knocking noise at his class room door, most of his students look up from their work to turn and face the door, even Urie who Kaneki knew that the purple haired student had been watching him turned to the source of the noise.

Kaneki's hopes where suddenly lifted, maybe it was Hinami coming back from her investigation but then the thought was dropped when he realised that Hinami wouldn't knock on her own brother's class room door she would just walk in and say sorry a hundred times, the teacher cleared his throat and called,

"Come in!"

Xxx

Hinami's whole body froze as the knocking continued, the female ghoul quickly but carefully put the papers back but then she looked at the blue folder with longing. This folder had all the information she was looking for, important information, she didn't know when she was going to get another chance to sneak into this flat.

She had no choice, she had to take the file back with her.

But her panic was gone and she recognised a male's voice calling from behind the door. "Hinami-chan, are you in there?" Hinami couldn't help but sigh in relief, she was not dead after all. Keeping hold of the folder the female ghoul quickly made her way to the door and opened it to see Hide but his presence didn't completely calm her down.

He looked like he had been running with his checks puffed red and sweat dripping from his fore-head and his clothes looked too warm for him. Also his eyes betrayed a look of urgency's and panic, Hinami wondered what was wrong.

"Hide, what are you doing here? And how did you know where I was?" Hinami asked shocked,

"From Touka" Hide explained though deep breaths "And she learnt from Kaneki, look we need to get out here"

"Why, what's happening?" Hinami asked, but suddenly Hide grabbed Hinami's free hand and pulled her away from the flat and towards the lift,

"Quite a number of things accuracy" Hide explained as he pressed the button so the doors closed "Remember yesterday that Touka was in that foul mood?"

"Yeah…?" Hinami asked wondering where this was going, her onee-chan wasn't in any trouble was she?

"Don't worry Touka-chan isn't in any trouble" Hide forced a smiled, the thing that Hinami couldn't understand about Hide is that he could sometimes tell what others are thinking, Kaneki had commented on it a number of times "In fact, its Nishio sempai" Hide said the worry coming back into his face.

"Nishio-san?" Hinami gasped, they hadn't heard from Nishiki Nishio since the Anteiku raid. The bikaku ghoul was last seen by Hide and Kaneki on their last night in Tokyo, he hadn't been seen since.

"Yeah, I don't really know the full story but he's here in town" Suddenly the lift doors opened and two stepped out and Hide began to tell his story. "I was just having my early lunch break until I saw Touka-chan running up to me and told me suddenly that Nishio-sempai was here and he said she got a text from Kaneki telling her were you are so I offered to come and get you while see went to get Kaneki".

"But why?" Hinami asked the two exited the building "Isn't it a good thing that Nishio-san is back?"

"I would of thought so too but Touka didn't explain, she looked panicked and angry to be honest she looked like a mad woman" Hide explained "Let's go back to college" then Hide's eyes were drawn to the unfamiliar blue folder that Hinami was holding "What have you got there?" He asked nodding at her hand.

"I will explain on the way" Hinami said as they quickly made their way towards the college, hoping that Touka had made contact with Kaneki already but they couldn't be anymore wrong…

Xxx

"Come in!" Kaneki called out and his classroom door opened and Honda-san pocked her head though the gap, the students suddenly uninterested went back to reading.

"Oh Honda-san!" Kaneki smiled pleasantly but surprised to see the elderly woman at this time of day "Can I help you with something?"

"Not me Haise-kun" The old woman smiled and Kaneki noticed the nervousness in her voice "But you can help this young lady though" she opened the door wider to present a smart young woman with golden blond hair and the most beautiful amethyst eyes Kaneki had seen and also the way she presented herself was business-like but something in her face and pleasant smile made her look quite motherly. She was also standing between two other men, one of them was hold some strange device

"Hello, class my name is Akira Mado" The name Mado sent a shiver down Kaneki's entire body, maybe he should be glad that Hinami wasn't here after all "If I could just take five minutes of your time, I promise this will done quickly as possible…"

 **Note: The date of the auction Friday 13** **th** **, and the number on Mutsuki's, Shirazu's, Urie's and Saiko's door the tarot 13** **mean's death. (Evil laugh)**

 **I have just said that the year is 2015 since this story line takes a place a year after the beginning of RE in the real story line (if Re is set in 2014, the year it was published).**

 **Wow when I mentioned about reviews in the last chapter I didn't expect that maybe people to take it on! I would like to thank Rayanruis, Fruitstogether, lipidcreeper, , TH3 51L3NT A55A551N, tats magicalmcguffins and Foxykyuu15 for reviews I'm sorry I didn't reply to some of them but I think it would be best to thank you all together and I know some of you asked questions about what's coming next in each chapter and have given me some really cool suggestions but I don't want to give the whole story away however will reply to some reviews now so everyone can read it and may get an idea what's going on!**

 **Yes Foxykyuu15 we need more Hide and due to the upcoming chapter we should see Sasaki in action very soon and maybe Hinami ;)**

 **Yes TH3 51L3NT A55A551N let's just hope that ghoul jumps on Urie so he's badly hurt but then again I'd rather Ken saves Saiko Lol**

 **Si Urie is a baka…LOL**

 **Lipidcreeper and Rayanruis I don't think u two going to be disappointed LOL**

 **I've already said thanks to Fruitstogether, when i get the chance to re-read everything it will be fixed**

 **And last but not least tats magicalmcguffins, I don't think I express my thanks enough for ur reviews and support even though I PM u nearly everyday lol**

 **I'm really looking forward to the next chapter, this next scene doesn't really relate much to the auction by since I like Nishio and since the last few chapters have been very informative I think it's time for Kaneki (and maybe Hinami, Touka and Hide) to demonstrate their fighting skill because seriously I think the QS have had all the fun lol.**

 **Also want to make Akira a reoccurring character as well, so I wonder what those strange devices are can anyone guess?**

 **I also feel this chapter was really short, I promise that the next chapter will be longer.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	10. College Arc: Tension

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 10: Tension**

The front of the college entrance came into Hinami's and Hide's sight but just then Hide stopped and pulled Hinami back by the shoulder, he seemed to be staring at something at his far left and Hinami turned to face his direction and suddenly understood.

"That's not a CCG van is it?" Hinami asked but Hide could only nod, it seemed that they weren't the only two staring at the van, other residence of the town shared glances at the unusual van parked outside the college and where talking in shushed voices and whispers.

"It looks like Hinami was right to leave while she could" A familiar female voice spoke behind them and they turned to see a very pissed off but concerned Touka who was staring at the van with hatred and anxiety betrayed in her eyes.

"Onee-chan!" Hinami gasped as she strolled closer to the older ghoul "What's going on? Are the CCG in the college? What about Onii-chan?" Touka put a gentle hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes as she spoke,

"Look don't worry about Kaneki at this moment" She said harshly but her eyes said she was just as concerned as Hinami and Hide "But first we need to get out of here, you to Hide" She nodded at the human who was standing there not sure what to do with himself. His best friend was now in a building full of investigators yet he didn't know what he could do about it. But he knew Touka was right, Hide used to volunteer at the CCG and there was the possibility of him being recognised and be questioned so he had no choice but to reluctantly follow the two ghoul woman to god knows where.

Xxx

As soon as Akira Mado introduced herself she ordered everyone in Sasaki's class, including the four rank three investigators to stand in the line at the front of the class, there were some protests from other students who looked nervously at the machine one of the men was holding. It actually took both Sasaki and Honda to calm everyone down and make them do as the strange woman said with the promise that no harm should come to them and if there were any two teachers the students could trust it was these two.

Once everyone was stood in neat line starting at the door to the other end of the wall did Mado explain herself, which Sasaki wished she could off done so earlier?

"Now that I have your attention" The woman said clasping her hands together "let me explain that we are from the CCG and have come all the way from Tokyo to be here"

"The CCG?" One of the boys in Sasaki's class explained "Don't they deal with ghouls?"

"Ghouls?" a girl gasped in fear "In this town?"

Before it could turn into a full on panic conversation Mado clapped her hands loudly graining everyone's attention back onto her, Kaneki couldn't help but be impressed by the control she had over the students as he stood beside Honda behind his desk watching the scene. He couldn't help but notice that the only ones that didn't look fearful or surprised were Urie, Mutsuki, Saiko and Shirazu who stood at the end of the line by the wall.

"Yes as it was pointed out" The blond woman said "The CCG do work with eliminating ghouls who mostly lurk around Tokyo's streets, but I don't want anyone to fear" Mado gestured her hand towards the metal device the man was holding, Kaneki couldn't see what it was due to the man with his back towards him but it seemed rectangle shaped and made of metal with a small computer screen at the front with buttons on the side. The device wasn't too big but it needed two hands for it to be carried safely.

"This device here" Mado explained "its full name is Red Child Cells Detector 1.1 but we just call the RCCD1, now does anyone in this class know what Red Child Cells are or they are most commonly known as RC cells?" To be honest Kaneki would be surprised if anyone in his class knew the answer to Mado's question, all anyone knew in this town about ghouls was the fact they ate people and because of that they wouldn't even know how to identify a ghoul or that ghouls can blend into society effortlessly instead of being flesh eating monsters that hide in the shadows.

So when no one raised their voice, not even the four new students (probably not wanting make themselves look like experts) Mado turned her head towards the two teachers standing at the back, she pointed towards Kaneki,

"You there" She said "You're Haise Sasaki right, the sensei in this class?"

"Yes ma" Kaneki said with confidence in his voice and gave the woman a slight bow of respect, he just hoped that this woman couldn't hear his heart pounding with anxiety.

"So you're a man of knowledge?" The woman commented with an approved smile "Can you explain to your class the meaning of RC cells?"

Kaneki had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep himself in check, why did he have the feeling that this woman was making fun of him? Or testing him even? Was she trying to make him look a fool in front of his class, but why? Or did she suspect that he was Ken Kaneki too? Did she want to see how he would react to the question? Like if he knew too much about RC cells it might make him more of a suspect? Yet it would be strange if he didn't since Haise Sasaki like Ken Kaneki grew up in the city were ghouls where more known.

He just had to explain in the most limited way he could and just hoped that his voice wouldn't waver on him,

"RC cells" Kaneki began loud and clearly, putting up his teacher mode "are small cells than run though the body like blood, both ghouls and humans have these" Kaneki explained feeling proud of himself that he managed to keep his voice calm and collected, it seemed that talking and teaching calmed his nerves.

"Very good" Mado nodded "but can you explain what separates a ghouls RC cells to a humans?" Now Kaneki was sure that this woman was playing with him, she was treating him like he was students and not a professor with his own classroom but any sly comments he wanted to make he bit them back, he needed to set an example for his students after all besides if she was an investigator he was sure he could get his own back in time…

"I'm not an expert like you Mado-san" Kaneki said "But what I do know is that a ghoul's RC level is roughly ten times higher than a humans, for example humans have an RC Level of about 200 to 500, while a ghoul has an RC level of about 1000 to 8000" Kaneki hoped that he hadn't said too much but it was worth it seeing the impressed looks on his students faces. Mado then asked another question,

"And do you how ghouls get such a high RC level and why they need it?" She raised an eyebrow daring Kaneki to explain the answer but he won't, he had already said too much that an ordinary person would know already but he did know the answer very well.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Mado-san" Kaneki said he felt his hand go up to chin "but like I said before I'm no expert, but I suppose all these questions have something to do with the device one of your men is holding?".

Mado nodded though Kaneki noticed the look of disappointment in her face "You are correct" She said then she turned back towards the class and answered her last question "Ghouls get such a high RC level because they get it by eating us humans, the cells are then stored in what's called a kakuhou and then when the ghoul needs it the cells become hard and the kagune is released from a kakuhou that is used a weapon" Mado paused and gestured back to the machine "This device here can measure a person's RC level and tell us roughly how many RC cells that person has, it is very similar to the RC Scan Gate we have in the CCG building in Tokyo instead this is more informative as it can know how many RC cells that person might have and it can be carried around".

The same boy who shouted out before raised his hand and Mado nodded in his direction, "But miss, if ghouls are so dangerous shouldn't you have more RC scan gates around Tokyo"

"If only that were so it would making finding ghouls much easier" Mado sighed "But these things cost funds that the CCG doesn't have at this point in time, but these however" Mado gestured to the machine again "are a lot more effective since they are portable and informative which makes them more useful they are also cheaper due to their size, I bet you in the next three years these will be used in public places such as train stations and airports and maybe one day it can be attached to shop walls and schools to warn ghouls off"

The students couldn't help but be impressed by the CCG cleverness but Kaneki only felt fear and despair at the cursed device. If this device was the same as the RC gate he passed through four years then it wouldn't affect him but what about Hinami or Touka or the rest of his ghoul friends. If the CCG found the funds and it was made the law to have these devices around public buildings including café RE then Touka would lose the business she had worked so hard on to re-build and what about Hinami? Was her education for nothing if she couldn't go into a public building to work?

The other things that worried Kaneki was the scene on the device that probably showed the RC level, even if it wouldn't react to him surely his high number of his RC levels would raise some suspicion? Looks like he wasn't out the cross-fire after all and he found himself desperately wanting to run out of the classroom.

"Now" Mado explained "I'm going to turn the RCCD1 on and want one person at the time to look though this little window by the screen" Kaneki couldn't see the glass object due to the investigators having his back to him, but then a though occurred to him.

What was the point in this?

He thought, he knew very well that none of the students were ghouls but then he suddenly remembered how they didn't mention that Karao Saeki might be a ghoul in the newspaper a few days ago, he risked a question since they could discover who he could be in matter of minutes he found no harm in it.

"Before you do that Mado-san" He said interrupted as Mado turned to him hiding her annoyance "for the safety of my students I must know if there are ghouls in our town?" the students stared at their sensei suddenly understanding what he had meant.

"Yeah" The girl said nodding "why else would the CCG be here if they don't suspect ghoul activity?" Now the whole class had a look of panic on their faces and Kaneki swore that he had just seen Mado's face go a shade whiter, this was not a question she wanted to be asked that was why she had been going on about RC cells. The only people who didn't react were unsurprisingly his new students.

This was what Kaneki had wanted however, now that Mado had to calm down the class and explain herself he could now reach into his pocket and send a quick message to Hinami telling her not to go back to the college. There was no point asking Touka or Hide for help because there was nothing that was going to stop Mado reading his RC level no matter the distractions or how much time he brought.

He began to wonder what Mado would do once she saw Haise Sasaki's high RC level on the screen, they didn't appear to be carrying Quinque cases he was sure he could leg it but what would his students think of him? Everyone's favourite teacher was a ghoul and a SS ranked at that. Would their outlooks on ghouls change or would it change the way they saw their teacher? What about Honda-san?

It seemed that Mado's and Honda's control of the class was now gone and students were chatting fearfully and excitedly to themselves even Mutsuki, Urie, Shirazu and Saiko where talking between themselves. He cleared his voice and straightened his back and breathed, if today was going to be his last day as teacher he might as well make the most out of it.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" suddenly the whole class went silent even the four ranks three investigators, Mado and the two men spun to face the fuming sensei including his Honda who had her hand on her heart like she was close to a heart-attack.

"Mado-san and her two companions are guests at this college!" Kaneki shouted staring at each member of his class in turn, each of them going paler than the next. It wasn't often that their sensei shouted but when he did it left the whole atmosphere in the room tense and silent. "You are meant to show respect to our guests, not only is you're behaviour embarrassing to me but you're giving bad name to the college and to yourselves!"

Next he turned to Mado who still looked the little stunned "My apologies Mado-san" Kaneki bowed at the woman for the second time that day "I didn't expect my question to create such a fuss practically between the members of my class" his hand went to his chin again "Please answer the question and there will be no interruptions"

"Thank you" The woman nodded "And no, there are no ghouls in the area that we know of this is just a precaution to ensure that the ghouls don't expand their territory, is that an answer Sasaki-sensei" Kaneki just nodded, he was expecting an answer like that since they wouldn't want the whole town in panic but at least make them aware of ghouls existence.

Akira Mado went over to the first person in the line, the boy who kept shouting out. He was ordered to look inside the glass box, suddenly the device gave a small delightful ping noise and a flash of green which must off meant he was a human. The same pattern happened to each of his students, they even did the same to Urie then Shirazu, Mutsuki then Saiko each time the device responded Akira ticked something off on a sheet of paper she had folded in her pocket. Kaneki could only guess that it was a list of names of his students.

Once they came to the end on the line Akira turned towards the two teachers, Kaneki knew what was coming.

He swore Akira liked teasing him because she went to Honda first and the old lady didn't need to be told to look though the piece of glass on the machine. A thin red line of a scanner appeared on the screen examining Honda-sans eyes then like the others a small light flashed green and a soft ping from the machine and Kaneki read the number 340 on the screen next to it and Mado tricked something off.

Then the woman turned to smile at Kaneki.

Kaneki wondered how the machine would react to him it would probably flash a bright red and make a warning air-raid noise with a large four digit number on the screen. He kept his breathing steady and his face as neutral as possible as Mado came to stand in front of him like commander would do to his underlings. Kaneki knew there was use escaping it and already had a quick plan in his head when he needed to escape.

"Now Sasaki-sensei" She said with a smile still on her face "If you could please look into the glass…"

Xxx

Touka, Hinami and Hide had speed-walked through the streets of people for the past five minutes wanting to put much distance between the college and them as possible. Touka had then turned a corner down a dark alley way behind the houses and corner shops. The trio caught their breaths back as the strong rotting smell coming from the bins filled the two ghoul's noses, even Hide wondered why Touka would take them to such a foul smelling place.

"Ok Touka explain" Hide said as demanding as he dared when addressing the scary looking ghoul but Touka didn't seem bothered by his tone, she brushed herself off and addressed Hinami and the lone human with fear and determination in her eyes.

"It will take a while and we don't have all day, I don't even understand some of it either" Touka said breathlessly "First of all I don't want you to worry about Kaneki, the CCG are only there to scan the students to see if any them are ghouls, Kaneki has been though a scanner before for some reason they don't work on one-eyed ghouls"

Hinami looked revealed at the information but Hide couldn't help but feel uneasy, he had heard of that incident from Kaneki before when he and Touka where giving false information to the CCG and some crazy looking investigator pulled Ken though a RC gate and it didn't react to him. But that was four years ago, technology had improved since then and he was sure that the CCG had. But he couldn't say anything, not in front of Hinami and he was sure that Touka wanted it that way too.

"The person we need to be more concerned about is Nishiki Nishio" She said by Hinami asked the question before Hides words could come out,

"But that doesn't make sense" Hinami said "You told us that Nishio-san left Tokyo around the same time we did, I mean we haven't had any contact with Nishio-san for three years now".

"You guys haven't" Touka said shaking her head, Hide stared at Touka until realisation hit him,

"Touka" He began slowly "You have been keeping contact with Nishio-sempai" It wasn't a question, Hide was sure of it. Touka sighed again she couldn't look at the pair and her one unhidden eye found the ground quite interesting.

"He didn't want me saying anything because he didn't want you guys to worry about him or get in his way"

"Touka what's happened to Nishio the past three years and where is he now" Hide said calmly as he put an gentle hand on her arm but still Touka couldn't look at him, she spoke in words softly and Hide had to strain his ears to hear her.

"He's been torturing fellow ghouls and humans across Tokyo and the rest of Japan for information…" Hides felt his heart stop for a second because of those words, Nishio? Torture? Why would he do something like that? Yeah maybe Nishio and tried to kill him and Kaneki in the past but Nishio had saved them more times than not. So what had happened to him?

"Information on what?" Hinami asked shakily, wondering where this was going.

"Torso, or you two might know him as Karao Saeki" Touka said then suddenly Hinami's phone went off, the younger girl pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the message.

"Who was it?" Touka asked,

"It's from onii-chan" Hinami said silently "Warning me not to go back to the college…"

Xxx

275 was the number that showed up on the screen and a soft pinging noise and a bright green light filled Kaneki's senses.

275?

Kaneki pulled himself away from the machine blinking a few times, it felt like the whole room had gone silent but that wasn't right because it had been silent since Mado ordered the first boy in line to look into the machine.

Kaneki's grey eyes drifted around the room, none of his students or Honda-san seemed surprised by the devices reaction. He eyes however couldn't help but glance other at his new four students each having their own expression. To Kaneki's surprise Mutsuki looked relieved and was smiling at Sasaki almost proudly, Shirazu just had a satisfied look on his face while Saiko couldn't help but smile. The only one out of the four that seemed to have a negative reaction was Urie, he was doing his best to keep his expression neutral but Kaneki couldn't help but notice the burning fire in his dark eyes and his mouth twisting at the corners. Kaneki pretended not to notice but instead to look at Mado who looked generally surprised, Kaneki could tell that the woman looked disappointed at the result and if Kaneki didn't have any self-control he would off laughed in her face.

Mado then ticked the name 'Haise Sasaki' of on her paper and turn away the teacher, "Ok" She said turning to the man besides her "You can turn that off now" then she turned away and thanked the class for their co-operation so it was only Kaneki that noticed that while the machine was shutting down the numbers on the screen 275 quickly changed to have the number 3 on the end so the numbers were 2753 doubled to 5506.

Maybe it was just how the device reacted when it was turning off? Or maybe the device got confused because it had never scanned a half-ghoul before? Well whatever the reason he was just grateful that Mado didn't stare at the scene any longer than she had.

Xxx

Touka took and quick look at her watch and turned back to the other two "Look we haven't got much time explain I have to get back to the college, Hide make sure that Hinami gets home safely".

"No wait!" Hinami cried out as she held out the folder towards Touka "look this is the folder I took the four students in onii-chans class, they work for the CCG and this is the folder of information they had involving the auction that is to happen this Friday". She paused looking into her onee-chans eyes with a fierce expression that Hide even had trouble looking at the younger ghoul.

"Please onee-chan I know you think I need protecting" Hinami continued "But I got this information all by myself and onii-chan has been giving me plenty of training over the last three years, please whatever is going on let me help".

Touka's eyes looked down at the ground, she seemed to be considering Hinami's words but was reluctant to do so and Hide couldn't blame her but he had been living with Hinami for almost four years now and he knew there was no point arguing with her once she had that look in her eyes. She would follow Touka whatever anyone said, and Hide was the same.

"Look Touka" Hide said gentle "You know we can't just go home and sit and do nothing while you might be in danger and besides even if you refused our help we would just follow you anyway, you might as make us aware of the situation so me and Hinami-chan are safer"

Touka couldn't argue with Hide's logic but she said in sad tone "You're right Hide, I took you here so you had a chance to hide but it seems that I've been away too much not to see that both you and Hinami have grown up" She paused and managed to look at the two "Stay close to me, Hinami I want you text Kaneki telling him to meet us around the back of the college and put that folder in your bag we will need it later…".

Xxx

After Akira Mado and her two companions left Kaneki had sent everyone home. It was now ten past twelve and he just hoped that his four new students won't go home straight away or that Hinami was already back at the house with a lot to tell him.

After lunch he had one more session with some science students and History students (he only taught them basic writing skills since he liked doing the extra work and money) then he could go home but if he had be honest with himself he couldn't be assed. He had just barely escaped the CCG from discovering him and he wasn't sure if he wanted to jump and down in happiness or go to bed.

He decided that he should text Hinami to ask if she was back home yet but his just then his phone buzzed in his pocket as soon as he took it out of his pocket. He saw that the message was Hinami, he opened it up and it read,

 _ **Onii-chan, don't worry I'm fine and with Onee-chan and Hide. Touka doesn't have credit on her phone so she wants me to ask you if you could met us around the back of the college if possible, Nishio-san is in town we don't know where but something is wrong with him please come.**_

 _ **Hina.**_

Kaneki sighed, this week just gets more and more eventful by the hour. He picked himself up from his chair, pulled on his jacket and locked up his class room wondering what Nishio had gotten himself into this time.

Xxx

It only took Kaneki as little as two minutes to escape from the college, along the way he noticed more white coat investigators coming out of classrooms and going down the halls caring a RCCD1's in their arms. So Sasaki's class wasn't the only one being investigated today? He wondered if they would come again tomorrow…

Right now Ken Kaneki was sitting on one of bins at the back of college where the only people who came there where bin-men and cleaning staff. But since it was the middle of the day all was silent and the only thing he could hear was the chatter of students and staff in the building and the smell of garbage filling his noise.

When Ken first became a ghoul all those years he didn't have the nose of ghoul, the only time he could smell probably was when he was hungry and the only thing that filled his senses was flesh and blood. But since Hinami had been giving him lessons his senses had improved greatly so despite the horrid smell of decaying waste food he sense caught up that another ghoul was present.

At first he thought it was Hinami or Touka but then he closed his eyes and concentrated on both his nose and ears, ignoring the chitter-chatter and stench of the humans inside the building and concentrated on the ghoul scent he caught before. And to his dismay he just knew that it's wasn't Touka or Hinami coming towards him.

The half-ghoul could smell cheap men's aftershave that seemed to be used to cover up the sent the dried blood on this ghouls clothing's but this ghoul hadn't done a good job masking it. Or maybe Kaneki just had a really good teacher? The footsteps of the ghoul seemed to also confirm that they belong to a male ghoul in contrast to lighter footsteps of females and this ghoul seemed to be creeping up from him from the roof of the college building…

Xxx

"So Touka-chan, why are we going back to the college?" Hide asked running as he struggled to keep up with the fast Ukaku-ghoul even Hinami seemed to be having trouble.

"Because that's the most likely place were Nishio-san is" Touka answered,

"What he's not after onii-chan is he?" Hinami asked suddenly "If he want's information about Torso then he doesn't know anything".

"Your right" Touka nodded "But Kaneki does have information on the person who has made contact with Torso recently".

"What you don't mean Mutsuki?" Hide said astonished that Nishio would know such a thing, the name of the victim wasn't made to the public. The only people who knew were himself was Kaneki, Hinami, Touka, Chie, the CCG investigators and possibly Shuu Tsukiyama so how would Nishio know unless…

"Touka-chan" Hide began as a chill went up his hot back "You don't think someone in our number is giving out information do you?"

"Well I didn't tell Nishio about the Torso accident" Touka said as she slowed into a slow jog so her companions could keep up. But Hinami stared at Hide and Touka in shock.

"No way!" She gasped "Maybe it's the CCG has a spy? They also knew who attacked Mutsuki".

"That could be true" Touka nodded "But if you think about it don't you think it's strange that the Madams are hosting the auction in this town, the same town where the famous SS ranked Centipede is hiding when you have like a load of other towns to choose from?"

"I also find it strange that CCG are here at the same week of the auction and how they are only targeting Kaneki now" Hide said and he felt his jog become slower and his brain became to work faster "Unless both we and CCG have a different spy giving out random information to Aogiri Tree and different ghouls or most likely…."

"There only one spy" Touka started "It is most likely someone in our group who has been giving out information to both Nishio, the CCG and Aogiri Tree".

Xxx

Kaneki rolled out of the way just in time before something dropped from the roof aiming towards where Kaneki once stood. Bin's and boxes shook and crashed to the floor due to the impact, Kaneki quickly got to his feet fists clenched and body positioned for a fight he had been ready for since Monday when this whole thing started.

The half-ghoul analysed the attacker in front of him, he wore a long white coat with pale red blood stains on which didn't look very practical considering the warm spring weather and plus the whiteness was just shouting out to be noticed. But what really stood out to Kaneki was his mask that seemed to be made from dark snake skin that was shaped somewhat like a snakes head with black slits for the eyes and a strange line across the mouth creating a creepy smile (Which was rich considering Kaneki's own mask).

He couldn't remember seeing such a mask before or anything similar, was this an Aogiri Tree member set out to capture him? Or maybe an old enemy from Tokyo? Well soon discovered that he wasn't far off from the second as soon as he heard the ghouls voice.

"Yo, shit-head Kaneki, long time no see"

"Nishio-sempai?"

 **Important Author Note!**

 **There won't be a new chapter next week because I'm on holiday that's why you're getting two chapters!**

 **I have changed one of the sentences in the last chapter to 'they hadn't heard Nishiki Nishio since the Anteiku raid' to 'they hadn't heard from Nishiki Nishio since she, Hide and onii-chan moved out of Tokyo' This is so it connects more to my short stories.**

 **Also the next chapter briefly refences one of my short stories 'The untold tale' so if you haven't read it don't worry, I'm just warning u do u won't be confused.**

 **I have spell checked the first two chapters of this story I will do the others when I get the chance.**

 **Also let me explain Kaneki's RC level if others can't work it out: In Tokyo Ghoul RE Haise's RC level is 2753, that is probably because of the RC Suppressants the CCG probably fed him. I believe this because if the highest RC level is 8000, for a half Kakuja like Kaneki don't you think 2752 RC level is a little low? So what I did was I just doubled his RC level in RE and it comes out 5506 which seems right if you think that a full Kakuja like Eto has 8000 or maybe over it would make sense for a half Kakuja to have half that amount.**

 **I went by wiki research and it's hard to guess the RC level when it doesn't show the RC level for other ghouls like Touka or Shuu so if there is something wrong with my logic please tell me!**

 **Also I would like LuffyTheKing115, TH3 51L3NT A55A551N, tats magicalmcguffins, and reality deviant for reviewing the latest chapter, keep it up guys! You reviews are taken into account and all feedback is welcoming!**

 **P.S I wonder who the spy is?**


	11. College Arc: Bikaku

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 11: Bikaku**

"Nishio-sempai?" Kaneki could keep the surprise from escaping in his lips, he hadn't seen Nishio for three years. The last time he saw the bikaku ghoul was when Nishio walked him and Hide home after killing that CCG investigator, which was Kaneki's last kill. He often wondered what happened to Nishio, he had tried call the ghoul many times since Touka told the trio that he had disappeared.

But now after three years, here he was.

Kaneki knew that he should be over joyed to see his friend again but there was something about Nishiki that put the half-ghoul on edge. He couldn't explain it but there was something hostile coming off the ghoul and it seem to Kaneki that he wanted to pick a fight.

Nishio pulled the snake skinned masked off, smirking at Kaneki like he always had done like nothing had changed. It seemed that Nishiki Nishio hadn't aged a bit.

"Nishio-sempai, what a pleasant surprise! You didn't have to drop in like that you know" Kaneki said, he dropped his defensive position a bit but not enough to himself vulnerable if an attack were to strike. There was just something off about Nishiki.

"I thought I would give you a little surprise" the ghoul said leaning back against the wall with his arms behind his head, taking in Kaneki's appearance "You don't have to look so tense you know?" He said with slight chuckle in his voice "I mean I didn't scare you that bad did I?"

"It wouldn't have hurt to drop a call or text like a normal person" Kaneki said "What's with a mask, you do understand that the doves are roaming around the town don't you?"

"Oh I'm well aware what going on in this town" Nishio said looking away from Kaneki "I hear that Aogiri Tree is here to, you and Hinami-chan should be hiding away they are after you, you know?".

"I kinda figured that would be part of their plan" Kaneki nodded "But tell me, where have you disappeared to for past three years?" Kaneki asked "We couldn't get a hold of you, we were worried that you were dead"

Nishio didn't say anything to this, instead he just sighed and pushed himself of the wall and dropped his head. Kaneki couldn't see his face due to the hood and the long hair but he was sure that it was a look of sadness hidden there.

"Sorry but I was a little busy" The ghoul said slowly "You see, I've been looking for someone and I was hoping you might be a help".

"Really, how so?" Kaneki asked, for some reason not liking were this was going.

"Well, I'm sure you have heard about the accident a few days ago?" Nishio said "They showed an image of the taxi driver who attacked two students, one was knocked out while the other fought him I believe they were you're students?"

"How do you know that?" Kaneki asked stuttered "The only people who knew that Mutsuki and Shirazu were the victims are me, the CCG and my friends and what does it have to do you anyway?"

"Yeah, some insource information told me about them" _insource information_ Kaneki wondered what he meant by that. "You see I'm after that taxi driver, Karao Saeki but he goes by the nickname Torso, I've been trailing him for a while now and the last I heard he had come to this town then I see his face of the front of the newspaper, then I heard you lived here so now I was wondering if you knew anything about him?"

"Sorry but I won't be much help" Kaneki said "Once I got to the scene of the crime the police was already there and I've never seen him before in my life but what I do know is that he might be with Aogiri Tree or the Madams, you do know about the auction being held this Friday don't you?"

"I've heard rumours" Nishiki shrugged "But I'd rather act sooner than wait for Friday, you see me and Torso have some unfinished business".

"I'm sorry but I can't help you" Kaneki said using the tone he would use when telling off a student, although he would never say that he couldn't help them.

"No? But I think you can help me find someone who does" Nishiki said walking closer to the half-ghoul and Kaneki's alert went up by ten-fold. "This guy in your class, Mutsuki his name was right? Maybe he could give me some answers?"

"I wouldn't" Kaneki shook his head "Mutsuki-kun has been sent by the CCG to investigate me and he also has three others with him, plus we have investigators wondering around the town so if I were you I would keep my head down and wait for Friday, its only two days away after all".

"Two day's might be a little late" Nishiki said standing arm's length away from the half-ghoul "Were does Mutsuki live?"

"Not saying"

"Where is now, do you know?"

"No I don't now stop asking" Kaneki stepped closer to the ghoul "And don't come near Mutsuki, he maybe an investigator but he's also my student the same goes with the other three".

"My, my Kaneki you sure take your job seriously" Nishiki said with a chuckle in his voice that Kaneki didn't like "but I'm sure you won't be saying that once he discovers who are, the famous SS ranked Centipede, Ken Kaneki who survived a close encounter with the Death God of the CCG, you are like CCG's most wanted they will kill you on sight. Ha, and if you aren't worried for yourself think about Touka and Hinami they would also be caught in the cross-fire oh and that Nagachika who's been hiding two ghouls all these years if that were found out he will be sentenced for treason!"

"What are you getting at?" Kaneki snapped furiously.

"I mean I could kill those four students for you" Kaneki searched Nishiki's face but he seemed to be deadly serious "tell me _Sasaki_ , are those four really worth the risk? You won't be suspected if those investigators turn up dead, it will be a Serpent attack and you can get on with your quite little life".

"My answer is still no Nishio-sempai" Kaneki said dangerously and took a few steps closer so the two ghouls were face to face "The CCG will not find out my secret and if they do then I will deal with it my own way".

"Ha I thought so" The bikaku sneered "You've gone soft, you have gone back to where you first started, a human!"

"What's gotten into you Nishio?" Kaneki snapped not caring for formalities right now "I thought the two of us were friends?"

"And naïve as always too" the ghoul turned to leave but was stopped by Kaneki's hand on his shoulder.

"You are not turning you're back on me Nishio!" The half-ghoul sneered one of his stone grey eyes turned black and blood red "You still have a lot to explain!"

"And you still haven't learnt your manners…" Suddenly Nishio lift his right arm up and attempted to use his elbow to hit Kaneki in the face but the half-ghoul was ready for it. He used his free arm to block of the attack and was prepared when Nishio swung his leg to kick Kaneki in the legs because the half-ghoul jumped in the air out of the way, letting go of Nishio and lifted his leg up attempting to put his foot down on the bikaku ghouls head but he moved out of the way by an inch. Kaneki dropped back onto the floor in battle position,

"Onii-chan!" The familiar voice called out, Kaneki turned to see Hinami with Hide and Touka alongside red faced and covered in sweat but Kaneki didn't have the time to ask what had been going on because as soon as Nishio discovered they had company he imminently put his mask back on and leapt away from Kaneki towards to the roof.

"Don't let him get away Kaneki!" Hide shouted "He's after Mutsuki and the others!"

"I'm aware of that!" Kaneki shouted back as he legged towards Nishio and crashed into the bikaku ghoul before he could leap onto the roof. The two rolled together on the ground just missing the bins until Kaneki leapt to his feet and kicked the struggling ghoul in the chin of the mask sending Nishio crashing into a pile of bin-bags.

Touka, Hide and Hinami caught up and where now standing side by side with Kaneki, they watched as Nishio lifted himself of the floor and rubbed the side of his chin where Kaneki had kicked and spoke in words so cold that it sent a shiver towards the three ghouls and human.

"You guys are really starting to piss me off…"

Xxx

Hide watched as the snake-skinned masked ghoul, who he supposed of Nishio take a step forward and spread his arms out as if welcoming one of them to a hit.

"Well, well aren't I lucky not only Centipede but also the Rabbit and Daughter Ghoul" _And me!_ Thought Hide but the ghoul didn't take any notice of the human.

"Cut this Nishio!" Touka cried out "Let's go back to the house, we can talk things over and make this whole thing straight!"

"I am done with mindless chit-chat" The Serpent ghoul sneered under his mask, Hide couldn't see his eyes but he swore if he did he would of seen plain cold hard anger "This One-eyed bastard" He nodded at Kaneki "Has made himself quite clear that he doesn't know Torso and won't give me any information on the person who might, but once I've taken down his two precious girls and little human he will most likely spill anything I need from him".

"I won't let you lay a finger on them Nishio!" Kaneki said stepping forward "Plus Hinami and Touka are both strong fighters I bet only one of us is needed to take you out!"

"Never underestimate your enemy Kaneki" Nishio said with a smile under his mask, Hide had the feeling that something bad was going to happen "I've been gone for three long years I've had plenty time to build up my strength" And with that a large blue and green serpent like creature appeared out from Nishio's back and curved around over this head. What was once a small slivery blue kagune was now a large and monstrous weapon that it blocked off most of the path, but Hide wasn't worried because he had faith in Kaneki and he was probably the scariest ghoul he had the pleasure of meeting.

Both Touka and Kaneki stood their ground and stepped forward, Touka with eye's black and her Ukaku forming from her shoulder blades.

"You don't impress me!" The ghoul sneered "No matter how much you train your still the same old shit-head Nishiki who lost his territory to Rize and was beaten up by a boy who had only been a ghoul no more than a week!"

"Enough talking!" And with that the snake like kagune lashed out towards the group, it was Hinami who leaped towards Hide pulled him away from the impact, while Kaneki had rolled onto the floor just barely out of the kagunes reach while Touka had leapt into the air with her own Kagune out. She shot purple-red blades from her ukaku towards Nishio, he tried to dodge but one caught him by the arm causing a rip at his coat. But the serpent ghoul didn't have time to examine the damage as Touka hulled her way towards him but he managed to meet her attacks by using his own fist to send Touka flying against wall.

"Onee-chan!" Hinami cried out but Kaneki was already on his feet and rushed towards the bikaku user at full speed, of course Kaneki wouldn't use his kagune just yet. From text books Hide knew rinkaku type users like Kaneki had a disadvantage against a bikaku like Nishio since the bikaku was good at defending the attacks against the brutal force of a rinkaku. But Kaneki had beaten Nishio once, he was sure it can happened again.

Kaneki ran towards Nishio, dodging the bikaku's attacks getting closer and closer. However Hide nearly screamed when Kaneki was too slow to notice the giant kagune was now hovering over him and was sent crashing down. But then, just in time Kaneki did something that defied all textbook knowledge on bikaku vs rinkaku, Kaneki's own magnificent red kagune shot from his back in the form of one single strong tail and splitting Nishio's own kagune is half!

Right now Kaneki was right up to Nishio and was about throw his fist into the ghouls face but the Serpent ghouls legs were faster as he kicked the half ghoul in the stomach and sent him flying. Kaneki landed on his hands and knees blood shooting out of his mouth as his back slammed against the wall and his kagune was limp besides him.

Nishio examined the damaged done to his once proud kagune that looked as if it had been cut with a knife. "How the fuck did you do that?" the serpent ghoul demanded to know, normally the rinkaku would of broken if it had crashed against a bikaku but that didn't seem to be the case. It was the other way around.

Kaneki couldn't explain what had happened either, he was just acting on instinct when the kagune started to crash down on him and he didn't give it a second thought. But the half-ghoul knew that he won't be going to do it again anytime soon, his kagune felt limp and weak. It didn't look as damaged as it should have done but it still didn't look good, maybe his Kakuja would be enough? But then again was it worth wasting it on Nishio?

It was Hide who was the only one who wasn't stunned by the scene in front of him, the only thing on his mind was that he couldn't let Kaneki's efforts go to waste. A few months after coming to this town Yomo had called at the house not only to give Hinami and Kaneki their food but he also had a present for Hide. It was a Quinque in the shape and size of a standard torch that could fit in your pocked but it didn't light up instead when you clicked the button a long thin blade with a light shade of a dull yellow and blue colour shot out and this is what happened now.

Hide always kept in his pocket for the past three years now, he had been practicing yielding it with Kaneki and had also been reading book on them but this was the first time he had used it in battle. However the serpent ghoul was too busy being confused and shocked to notice the lone human coming at him with the blade in hand. Only when did Hide scream in rage did Nishio look towards the human and by then it was too late, Hide had slammed the blade onto the already weakened kagune, but it didn't cut all the way but Hide didn't care because right now he had already lifted the blade up again to pierce it into the slits of the mask. Where the eyes where.

Suddenly there was screaming and Hide was pushed back leaving the sun coloured quinque stuck in the ghouls eyes. Nishio yanked the blade out, showing the end the of sun coloured quinque that had been stained in deep dark red blood. Hide scuttled away from the ghoul towards Hinami, who had been observing the scene wide eyed.

"Fuck you Nagachika!" The Serpent ghoul sneered but he didn't have the time to do or say anything else because already a harsh impacted had found its self against his head and Nishio could already see his vision beginning to blacken. _Shit, he had forgot about the Ukaku bitch!_

Touka was standing behind the serpent ghoul while Kaneki had gotten himself up from the floor and making his way quickly towards the falling ghoul. This was probably for revenge or maybe it was for the half-ghoul's amusement because Kaneki lifted his leg up straight, drawing it back and kicked Nishio in the gut sending him flying straight towards the wall. There was the sound of bones cracking, maybe Nishio's spine and the bikaku ghoul slumped to the ground and the atmosphere grew silent.

Xxx

"He's not dead is he?" Hide asked slightly worried, neither Nishio or his kagune were moving nor did Hide like that cracking noise his back made a second ago. Touka just tutted and shook her head,

"It will take more than that to kill a ghoul" She said "Although Nishio surprised me, I didn't know it would take the four of us to beat him".

"You mean three" Hinami said who was standing silently behind everyone else, head down looking ashamed of herself. Hide knew what was going on in her head,

"No Hinami-chan, she meant 'four'" The human said smiling fondly at the confused ghoul "You pulled me out of the way of Nishio's kagune when I wasn't fast enough, you saved my life"

"You shouldn't be the only one to give out all the credit you know" Kaneki said with a laugh in his voice as he pated Hide on the shoulder, Hide saw that his friends left eye were back to its normal grey colour like the right one and that his kagune was now back inside him but he still looked a little roughed up with hair sticking out in all directions and his clothes all wrinkled up with dirt and dust. "I saw the whole scene you know, god Hide you were amazing!"

Even Touka was smiling "I know you have been training with Kaneki how to use the quinque but I didn't think you were that good!"

"Oh no" Hide shook his head and flapped his hand in dismissal "I was just lucky, that's all! Nishio was shocked and distracted that Kaneki's rinkaku was able to break his though his bikaku so I used that to my advantage" He turned to Kaneki with a raised eye-brow and asked the question "How did you do that anyway?" The human asked "I've probably read a hundred of books about ghouls and I'm sure no matter how strong the rinkaku is it shouldn't be able to break through a bikaku that easily".

"I saw that to" Touka said "Nishio's kagune was huge and should have been really strong but you just spilt though it like it was butter, no Kakuja either".

Kaneki felt all eyes upon him as he spoke with uncertainly "Trust me I surprised myself and it wasn't planned" He spoke running his hands though his hair "I was just running up to him dodging his kagune but then I lost sight of it, next thing I know I see it coming down on me and I just acted on instinct" Kaneki paused to breath, he wasn't tired as he should be but this whole ordeal was making his body shaky with anxiety or excitement? "Anyway I don't think I can do something like that twice in one day, when Nishio kicked me into that wall my kagune looked weak and limp I could hardly move it".

Suddenly Kaneki was interrupted by a painful grunt coming from Nishio, he seemed to be waking up.

"We will have to continue this later" Touka said as she picked up the blood stained quinque and retreated the blade back inside the hilt and passed it back over to Hide "Here" She said "With the way things are going you're gonna need it". Hide nodded and took the quinque making a mental note to wash it later.

Kaneki look at his watch the hand pointing to 10 minutes to 1.

" _Shit!_ " Kaneki gasped and the three others cringed, not used to hearing such langrage from the normally polite half-ghoul "I got a lesson in ten minutes!"

"Thank god I thought it was something serious" Touka mumbled but Kaneki paid no attention as he started to quickly clean himself off as best he could,

"You're not seriously going to teach are you?" Hinami asked in bewilderment, they had just survived a fight shouldn't he be going home and resting?

"I still got a job to do remember" Kaneki said "Besides best to keep the normality because I'm surprised that the CCG or anyone else for that matter hasn't come to see what all the racket was about" And with that Kaneki turned his back and headed towards the back door but not before looking over at Nishio "We can lock him up in basement" He said nodding towards the knocked out ghoul "I finish class at two so we will speck then". With that Kaneki had rushed back inside the collage leaving the other three with Nishio. Then Hinami spoke

"I didn't even get a chance to tell onii-chan about the folder…"

While Hide went to get the car the and two female ghouls guarded Nishio a lone dark hooded observer had been standing there up on the roof, watching the scene with interest. He or she turned its back and left without looking back, looks like this person had more information to give out to the CCG and Aogiri…

Xxx

At twelve o'clock, before the fight Urie, Mutsuki, Shirazu and Saiko were making their way home to drop their bags off at the house and try to get a hold of Mado. They walked back to the flat while discussing what had happened today.

"So I think that proves it!" Mutsuki said looking cheerful "Sasaki-sensei is not a ghoul after all".

"Yeah I'm glad" Shirazu laughed "it's one less thing to worry about, now we can concentrate on the auction then go back home to Tokyo" Saiko nodded in agreement she walking with a slight skip in her step, she was obviously pleased with what occurred today. But Urie stayed silent and trudged along behind them,

"Although" Mutsuki explained "It doesn't explain why we didn't know about Hinami, you would think something like a sister would be on his profile…"

"Maybe the CCG made a mistake" Shirazu said shrugging "These things are sometimes overlook you know, and besides it's not our business anyway if there is any false identity then that's the police's job, if it has nothing to do with ghouls then it's not the CCG problem".

Urie didn't like Shirazu's attitude but he kept his mouth shut.

"Yeah and besides" Mutsuki said "The Sasaki family could of just adopted her so that might be why she's not on the list".

"Probably" Shirazu shrugged. After a few minutes the four made it the front door of their flat, then they noticed something very odd. The door was slightly open.

"Hang on" Mutsuki said gasping "I'm sure I locked that this morning…"

Urie rudely pushed past them and flung open the door and to his horror he found the draw to the desk wide open. He ran towards it and first thing he noticed was that the blue folder that had photocopied information on the auction was now gone. He also noticed that the pages containing information on Ken Kaneki and Hinami Sasaki where not in the proper order as they should be.

At least the hacking device looked untouched, but that did not calm Urie's nerves.

"Who could of done this and why?" Mutsuki gasped, he was just as shocked as everyone else. Suddenly the noise of Saiko clearing her throat and everyone turned towards her and she spoke,

"Did anyone notice that Hinami wasn't in the second part of class this morning?"

Xxx

Kaneki ran up towards the lift, he must off looked a sight but he wasn't too bothered because he was going to be late. He got to the lift and pressed the button for the third floor, luckily for him he was the only one in the lift so he was able to tidy himself up more and tried to bring down his adenine rush he got from the fight with Nishio. His heart was hammering faster than it had done in years and he felt his body tense up like he was expecting something to pop out behind him and the strange thing was that he couldn't stop smiling.

Even when Hide could of died back there and when Touka was smashed to the wall he was scared and worried for his friends but he had felt something else besides fear that he couldn't explain. It wasn't happiness but yet here he was grinning like an idiot and suddenly the thought of more ghouls who might be coming after him only made his smile boarder. It was then that Kaneki realised that he was crazier than he thought.

He got out the lift walked towards his classroom still grinning but as soon as he opened his door he was surprised to see Honda sitting at his desk with a sad look on her old face. She didn't notice that he had come in until he cleared his throat.

"Honda-san, are you ok?" Kaneki asked and the old woman, she suddenly lift her head up with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh Haise-kun" The old woman smiled warmly as if she hadn't had such a sad look on her face "I was wondering where you got to, you weren't in the staff room today"

"Oh yeah I was just meeting up with Hinami-chan" he said as his hand moved towards his chin "Where you waiting for me all this time?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you were ok" Kaneki looked at the woman in surprise, did Honda know something was wrong with him when he looked in to the RC detector?

"I'm fine but I will admit I was a little shaky" He forced a laugh "I wouldn't expect the CCG to come here of all places".

"Yeah they came without warning" Honda said shaking her head "Honesty a ghoul in this town would be quite noticeable don't you think, and even if there was one here they don't mean any harm am I right?"

"Of course" Kaneki nodded felling uneasy and then there was silence.

"You should go home Haise-kun" The old woman said and Kaneki couldn't help but look at her in surprise "The science students are busy asking those poor investigators all types of question and the History students are no better, I will take care of your class and you can go home and rest…"

"Its fine" Kaneki flustered "I'm not ill or anything" But Honda put her hand up, stopping him from saying anymore

"Haise, we spend too much time together to know that something is wrong with you" The elder woman said with the look in eyes that said that there will be no arguing "Go home and rest, you only have a half day tomorrow and you're off on Friday so you might well, besides look at you! You are jiggering with nerves and that look in your eyes look a little mad if I'm honest, you can't teach a class like that".

Kaneki looked reluctant but common sense told him that Honda-san was right and he could trust Honda to teach his class than any other teacher in this college. Besides he wanted to check on Nishio. So he left the college feeling a lot sober than he did a minute ago.

 **Author note: Yeah I know this chapter is short but u are getting two in a week, don't be so spoilt!**

 **My only problem is that I think Nishio's fight scene is too short but considering that he was fighting an aware Kaneki, Touka and the awesome Hide it should be no surprise.**

 **And what do you think about Kaneki new found strength and Hide's quinque?**


	12. College Arc: Thoughts

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 12: Thoughts**

There was no point for Kanekito go straight home yet, he knew that Touka, Hinami and Hide would still be around the back of the college. He could guess that one of them will pick up the car and drive Nishio to the house but Kaneki didn't fancy getting involved just yet. Honda-san was right, he needed to calm down. Although the half-ghoul felt more sober than last time his mind was still full of rash thoughts and idea's so he decided to go out the front of the college and maybe take a stroll in the park or something just get his head clear and think somethings though.

While he walked through college he spotted men and woman standing around wearing white dove coat and carrying RCCD1's under their arms or showing them of to students and teachers who were interested. Kaneki kept his head down and tried to look as natural as possible but he couldn't help to lift his head when he spotted two familiar figures standing in a que at the reception desk, it was Saiko and Shirazu.

The young receptionist looked a little busy dealing with phone calls and giving out information to the investigators, it would be a while until they came to Saiko and Shirazu so he decided to go up to them instead.

"Hey! Shirazu-kun and Yonebayashi-san!" He called out and walked up to them, the two turned their head in surprise and smiled warmly at the teacher, this confirmed to Kaneki that he probably no longer a suspect. He suppose these two would be leaving as soon as they came here.

"Hey sensei" Shirazu said once Kaneki was close enough "Don't you have another class to teach or something?"

"Yeah I did but Honda-san in taking over today" Kaneki smiled "And I thought you two would be at home or something, why are you back in college?"

"Well you see…" Shirazu shuffled his feet and his hands where in his pockets, he looked very uncomfortable "Someone has broken into our flat…"

"What?" Kaneki gasped, he knew he should be surprised but he had forgot that Hinami said in her text that she was going to go around to the flat today. But for now he had to play the concerned teacher act "Do you know who did it? Has anything been stolen or taken?"

"That's the strange thing" Shirazu said with a shiver "No valuables have been stolen even all of Saiko's game stuff has been left untouched, looking around it seems that the culprit only came into the front rooms and ignored the all the bedrooms and bathroom, suppose he or she had to leave in a hurry before checking those rooms".

"Why do you say that he or she left in a hurry?" Kaneki asked,

"Because when we came to the flat the door was still left unlocked like the person didn't care if we knew we had been broken into and that person also left the drawer of our desk open and the only thing taken was a useless blue folder"

 _A blue folder?_ Kaneki thought, why did Hinami take it? Did it have something to do the CCG or and auction? But still it is a bit careless of Hinami to take the folder when she could off took a picture of the pages using her phone and why would she leave to door unlocked? Unless that was the time Touka or Hide took Hinami...He would have to ask them when he got home.

"I hope this blue folder wasn't anything too important?" Kaneki asked then suddenly Shirazu had a look of shock on his face, Saiko gave Shirazu look which basically said _'Now you've done it, quick lie!'_

"Err not really" Shirazu said slowly with a slight stammer in his voice, honestly and Hide said that _he_ was bad at lying "Just college documents and that, I figure the guy who broke in just thought it was something important and took it with them…".

"Ok" Kaneki nodded pretending be oblivious "Is that you're here at the reception to see if the college can get us a new lock or something I mean it's their building after all, but don't the college have some kind or landlord or helper to sort these things out?" Kaneki asked, he had only been working in this college for a few months and didn't know much about the student housing system since it was such a small town most of the students still lived with their parents.

"Yeah we do" Shirazu nodded "But we haven't be able to contact the old fart, we can't find him in his office and we can't get a hold of him though his mobile".

"Oh, I hope he's alright…" Kaneki said slowly he look at the line at the desk, the receptionist had an assistant now but she still looked like that she was on wits end dealing with phone calls and investigators asking questions while smiling happily and trying to be polite. He turned towards the two students "Look, you're going to be waiting awhile with all the GGC about, look the college has a handyman called Izumi, he's a stern man but he has a good heart just tell him that I sent you and he will do something about that lock" He gave the instructions on how to find Izumi and the two students nodded gratefully and made their way there.

Now Kaneki really wanted to get home and ask about the blue folder he thought going around the back to see if Hide, Hinami and Touka were still there but decided that he rather walk on his own in the peace and quiet.

The half-ghoul walked out the college with students, teachers and Doves rushing past him, he was relieved once he was past the car park and onto the main road with the only people around him being shoppers or workers on their break. His mind with spinning with questions and thoughts that didn't seem to shut up such as why was Nishio in this town and why was he after Saeki? But he knew that the auction, the CCG and this blue folder were more important. These were all the things that he and the family needed to discuss.

Kaneki was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realise that he had bumped into someone, luckily Kaneki was strong and didn't fall back but the person he had bumped into did.

Kaneki blinked a few times and looked down at the person who had fell, she was slumped to the ground and rubbing her head in pain "Oh I'm so sorry, I was in my own world there" He stretched out his hand and the Kaneki couldn't help but be surprised when the person lifted her head up, he recognised her as Chie. She didn't seem cross at him but she only smiled at the half-ghoul as she took his hand and stood up.

"Wow you were in your own world, weren't you" She explained as she brushed herself off "I was shouting 'Haise! Haise!' but you didn't look up so I decided to run into you instead but it seems to be me that's fallen over…"

"Why are you here anyway?" Kaneki asked politely, although he was used to the small woman's antics and always welcomed her company he didn't like being dragged away from his train of thoughts.

"Well I first saw Hide-kun running towards the house, saying something about needing to get the car and about Nishio-san then two minutes ago I saw him drive pass towards the college, what's going on? Is everything ok?"

"Not really…" Kaneki sighed and as they walked to the house Kaneki told Chie about the fight with Nishio what went down with the RCCD1's. They didn't finish until Kaneki had unlocked the front door of the house and had sat themselves down on the sofa.

"So that's why Hide was getting the car!" Chie smiled "To get Nishio! I've never met Nishiki Nishio, is he good looking? Do you think he let me take his picture?"

"While he's knocked out he might…" Kaneki grumbled and he lay back on the sofa and hoped that his friends would come soon with some explanations. "Have you spoken to Tsukiyama lately?" He asked the small woman as she flicked though the images on her camera.

"Oh yeah I spoke to him one the phone yesterday" She said nodding "Did you know that in France almost every ghoul no matter on status can go to a ghoul restaurant? He said there are load of them hidden around Paris, maybe if you want to start that little group again you had in Tokyo maybe you should go to France instead?"

Before Kaneki could say anything else however the front door slammed open to see Hinami holding the door open for Touka and Hide to carry a sleepy looking Nishiki and of course Chie started snapping photos. Touka looked surprised when see noticed the two sitting on the sofa.

"What are you to going here?" She gasped "Kaneki, shouldn't you still have a class!"

"Lovely to see you too" the half-ghoul rolled his eyes and moved of the sofa and took Touka place and helped Hide carry him down to the basement. Touka and Chie followed them as Kaneki spoke,

"It was Honda-san who let me go, thought I looked ill" Well mad but he wasn't going to say that, he didn't want them worrying over him "So I came back here and 'bumped' into to Chie, speaking of which Chie can you stop snapping pictures!" The light was seriously starting to give him a headache. "I also bumped into Shirazu and Saiko at the college resection desk". He said as he and Hide dumped Nishio down on the mattress of the empty dark basement that they always had ready in case of emergencies like this

"What you're new students?" Hide asked and Kaneki nodded, then they left the room and closing and locking the door behind them.

"Yeah, they said that someone broke into their house before" All eyes turned towards Hinami, but nether anyone was mad but more impressed by the young ghouls bravery and skills but Kaneki couldn't help the worry boiling in his stomach. What if those investigators put two and two together and work out that Hinami wasn't in class for a second half which would be the time the flat was broken into?

"Hinami show him what you found" Hide nodded encouragingly but he gave Ken sideways look that always gave the impression that he knew something was up with Kaneki and he would get it out of him later.

"Oh yes!" She gasped and they all followed her upstairs into the ground floor but instead of going into the living room they decided that the dining table in the kitchen would be better. Hinami sat next to Touka who sat across from Kaneki who sat next to Hide, Chie sat at the head of the table swinging her legs back and forth.

"I think its best that Hinami shows us what she got from the Doves house then we evaluate the issues one step at a time" Touka said solemnly once everyone was seated, the others nodded in agreement.

"Good plan" Hide nodded "I feel so much has happened and we all have different bits of information that need to share out towards the group so we all have the same story and we can we can work out our next move".

"Couldn't agree more" Kaneki nodded then turned towards Hinami "So Hinami-chan what do you want to show us?"

Xxx

Mutsuki sat in silence on the sofa of their flat as he watched Urie pace up and down the floor, Mutsuki had tried to make small talk with the purple haired investigator but didn't get much as a response apart from 'shut up'. What Saiko said before she and Shirazu left was still ringing in her mind, why was Hinami Sasaki not in the class the second half? That 'might' have been the time when the flat was broken into but was it possible it could of happened earlier when Hinami was in class? Mutsuki tried to point this out to Urie to but his mind seemed to be set. Also the other question Mutsuki had was why did Urie have Hinami's college file? He must have known about Hinami before but why didn't he tell his squad? His team? His friends?

Did he think of us as nuisances?

Mutsuki watched Urie pace, he was clutching the files in his hand and his mobile in the other. Akira had already been called and was told what had happened but of course the female investigator had more important things to do at this moment. The RCCD1's results still needed to be updated into the CCG's system and there was also going to be a meeting tonight to discuss the raid on the auction so there was a lot to prepare.

Mutsuki wondered if he would be allowed to help with the auction raid, his foot might be better by Friday and he wanted to be some useful since he couldn't catch Torso and hadn't made much progress on the Sasaki investigation, which he was sure it was a waste of time.

"What's taking those idiots so long" Urie mumbled, Mutsuki assumed he was taking about Saiko and Shirazu.

"I'm sure that the college is very busy at the moment" Mutsuki said "It's not like they were prepared for the CCG to enter". Urie just huffed and stopped pacing and started to flick though the files on Hinami, Kaneki and Haise to see if there was anything he missed, Mutsuki guessed he had done that a few times this week.

"Urie" Mutsuki said choosing his words carefully "Just forget about Sasaki, he's not a ghoul or a half-ghoul the RCCD1 confirmed that…" He was interrupted when Urie suddenly banged the files on the coffee table in front of Mutsuki making the smaller male jump. He looked up at Urie who had rage and hate burning in his eyes that Mutsuki had to look away and turn towards the files with 'Ken Kaneki' on top.

"This guy…" Urie said slowly with a dangerous tone in his voice "Escaped Arima of all people if he can escape _him_ he sure as hell can escape an RC detector so unless you do sometime important for once I am not interested in your opinion!" Mutsuki didn't look at the angry Urie instead he bit his lip, got off the sofa and grabbed his crutches besides him and not saying anything he moved towards the open front door and left Urie alone in the empty room. Urie pretended not to care that Mutsuki turned his back on him, that he didn't apologize for his uselessness or even tried to argue with him.

But was Mutsuki useless? Of course he was! He's the one who got himself hurt by a ghoul and attracted the CCG here! He let Torso get away! Mutsuki has done nothing in the Sasaki investigation expect saying what a good teacher Haise was and how he couldn't be a ghoul! It made Urie sick to the stomach with anger and resent on how stupid and impractical people could be, that they couldn't see what was right in front of them and when Urie saw Haise Sasaki he saw a ghoul.

But if Urie could really see what's in front of him then he would see a friendless, angry and pathetic young man in an empty quite room only accompanied by his obsession for promotion and his anger at this wrong world.

It seems sometimes that quiet and solitude and worse than conflict itself.

Xxx

Mutsuki took the lift to the ground floor of the flat where he could go outside, he tried to push out Urie's cruel words and tried to convince himself that it wasn't him that was in the wrong but Urie who has been withholding information from the group and he was just angry because his extra credit (Hinami) had been discovered. But then Mutsuki looked down at crutches and remembered the fight with Torso, he remembered Akira, Suzuya and all the other investigators congratulate him even Nobu Shimoguchi who always had looked down on Mutsuki for his weakness had a nice word to say.

But did Mutsuki deserve it? Although he had put up a good fight and injured the ghoul Mutsuki had taken the worse of the damage and collapsed right in front of danger. Mutsuki didn't understand why the Torso ghoul had left but Mutsuki let him get away and to him that didn't feel like an achievement.

The lift stopped and the young investigator got out and left the building and breathed out in the fresh air and suddenly his mind and clear and knew what he had to do. Not matter what Akira or the others said about his foot he was going to the auction, save the citizens and with any luck Torso would be there. But first he needed to find Suzuya, he was one who could be reasoned with and besides Mutsuki could do with a knife lesson.

Xxx

The blue folder was passed around the table, it was Hinami that read out all the information contained. Right now the group had learnt that that the auction was indeed this Friday, Friday 13th there was also a list of invitations that were sent out and the people on that list where indeed Madam A, Croque Monsieur, Rose, where coming to the auction, which the group knew where the alias for Maiko Abe, Mirumo Tsukiyama and Kanae von Rosewald and it looked like Matsumae's name was on their as well. It was also stated in notes that Aogiri Tree have been assigned to protect Big Madam, it also said that the auction was due to take place at 9.00pm in the college hall.

"Of all the places in town why the college?" Touka asked once it was read out,

"The college has a large theatre" Kaneki answered "When they were first building the college not only did they want better classrooms for the students but they wanted a bigger hall that could fit most of the town's population in so they could have more communal meetings".

"It is a little large" Hinami nodded "It's the perfect place, plus nobody would be in the college that time".

"So we know who is going to be at the auction, the date, time and place" Touka said "but the question is, what are we going to do about it?"

"How do you mean?" Kaneki asked "We can't let the Madams and Aogiri Tree get away with this!"

"But Kaneki" Hide said, the human tuned towards the half-ghoul seriously "The CCG are going to be there that was the main reason they came to this town in the first place, maybe we should just let them do their job?".

"Are you saying that we don't get involved?" Kaneki asked suddenly angry with the sudden attitude

"Exactly" Hide nodded sternly unshaken by Kaneki's "There is no reason for you or anyone else to get involved, the CCG will save the citizens and kill Big Madam it will all be over next week and we can back to our normal life"

"Hide" Kaneki stopped the human before he could say much more "Are you already forgetting who we have locked in our basement, Nishio has come to this town to find Torso who happens to be with Aogiri Tree who happens to be in this town. Did you see how Nishio was like with us before? I bet he was willing to kill to us so we can't just let him out and attack more ghouls, the auction might the opportunity for Nishio to sort out what's going on and I think we should help"

"But it's not about that is it" Touka said softly, it was more of a statement than a question and it grabbed Kaneki attention. Kaneki was surprised to see that the female looked neither angry with Kaneki nor frustrated but instead she looked sad and she couldn't meet the half-ghoul in the eyes.

"If you are referring to my self-satisfaction…." He started but Touka shook he head,

"I think it's more than that" Touka said sadly finally looking up "You look different, I can't explain how but since that fight with Nishio, no when this week started you've looked more alive than I've ever seen you but not in the good way…" But Kaneki knew what she meant, Honda had commented on it to, he didn't noticed that room was now full of tense silence that nobody dare break all expect Chie Hori.

"So are we going to the auction or what?"

Xxx

Mutsuki wondered about for a while, he had tried contacting Suzuya but he got no answer. Mutsuki was now in the main street where the shops were at, the street wasn't full since it was a weekday and Mutsuki could think more freely. He then saw a familiar face a few feet away from him looking inside a shop window,

"Itou-san!" Mutsuki called out and the light haired young man looked up with surprise on his fox like face.

"Oh Mutsuki-kun" He beckoned the younger investigator over and Mutsuki saw that the older man was standing in front of a cake shop. "I was just thinking of buying some of these chocolate cakes" The cheerful investigator said "They look so yummy, do you want one Mutsuki? Chocolate always helps me when I'm ill or just come out of hospital".

"Oh its fine" Mutsuki shook his head he couldn't expect a treat from someone he hardly knows.

"Oh well more for me then!" the elder said and went to the shop and ordered some delicious chocolate iced muffins. While the shop assistant was preparing them the two investigators engaged in conversation.

"Nice little town isn't it" Kuramoto Itou commented,

"Shouldn't you be back in the college helping with the investigation or setting up for meeting tonight?" Mutsuki asked politely wondering if this was the right time for CCG investigators to be buy cakes.

"Hey a guy can take a break can't he" he said playfully as he paid the shop assistant and the two investigators walked out together "Besides I don't see you doing anything!"

"We haven't been given orders yet besides coming to the meeting tonight" Mutsuki said "Hey you haven't seen Special Class Suzuya about have you?"

"I think I heard he was checking on the Nutcracker case" The investigator answered while taking a bite out of his muffin "He's meant to here helping with us with the Rc scanning but you know what Suzuya's like, he's goes off and does what he wants half the time".

"Yeah…" Mutsuki said looking a little down until Kuramoto shoved a chocolate a chocolate muffin in his face.

"Just eat the muffin Mutsuki" The older investigator said with a sigh "I know it's bad for your diet but it's good for the soul!" Mutsuki couldn't help but smile and take the muffin, it tasted good and he felt sorry for those ghouls who would never know what chocolate tastes like.

Xxx

In the 'ghoul' house the three ghouls and the two humans sat around the table, they had decided to put any thoughts of the auction on hold until they had spoken to Nishio. Hinami had already passed around her phone so they knew what info the CCG had on Ken Kaneki and he had to say that he was impressed by how much the CCG had got on him including his personality which was given by his past teachers. Kaneki also informed the group on what had happened in his classroom today with Akira Mado and the RCCD1.

"You are very lucky you know that!" Touka commented "If they had looked at the scene of that detector a little longer you could have been caught".

"Don't forget about Hinami" Chie pointed out "She could have been caught too you know".

"That's right I'm very lucky" Hinami nodded but Kaneki couldn't help but sigh, they were still missing an important piece of information he didn't want to worry Hinami but she wasn't a child and he needed to bring this up sooner or later,

"Hinami-chan" He said turning to the girl "I don't think you should go into college tomorrow, I sure that the dove's will come back tomorrow to scan the people who weren't in today and…it's also possible that Urie could put two and two together and might figure out that you're absents from second period might say that you were the one breaking to their house".

The others didn't say anything but Hinami nodded in understanding and didn't seem to want to argue, it seemed that she had been on the same thought of train as her brother.

Next Hide wanted to know something from Touka, he had wanted to know it since she dragged him and Hinami by those bins less than an hour ago. What did Touka know about Nishio? Kaneki's interests were suddenly peaked up, Hide wondered if Kaneki was going to use this chance to make an excuse to go to the auction but this was something that needed to be shared out and there was no use hiding it now, and Touka seemed to know that.

"He didn't want me to tell you lot" Touka said with her eyes on the table looking uncomfortable "He left Tokyo shorty before you left" She nodded at Hide, and Hide remembered that it was Kaneki and Hinami who started to live in this town first while staying in a nearby hotel and Hide didn't come until the following Thursday and moved them all into the house. Hide remembered that very well, it was also the last time he saw Nishio.

"If I remember righty" Kaneki said "Wasn't the last we saw Nishio was the day me and Hinami left Tokyo?" Kaneki asked and Hide nodded,

"Yeah he cleaning up _you're_ mess" Hide stated weakly earning him an annoyed look from Kaneki "That was the last I heard of him".

"Yeah, I don't really understand what happened" Touka said shrugging "But I believe that was the night Nishio left, well at least the day after. He just suddenly stop coming to work and the university I tried to call at his house but I got nothing, it was only a few days later that I got a text from him telling me not to tell you guys".

"What about Kimi?" Kaneki asked "Where is she?"

"That's the thing, I don't know" Touka said, "I broke into the house a few days later and saw that Nishio had packed all this things and personal belongings but Kimi's stuff was still there"

"Don't you have her mobile number?" Hinami asked and Touka nodded sadly,

"Yes but like Nishio I got no reply, she was put on the missing person list…"

"What!" Hide cried banging his hands against the table "But I was there in Tokyo around that time, why have I only just heard of this?"

"Me and everyone didn't see a reason for you to know" She told Hide with a stern expression but there was sorry in her eyes "You had too much to worry about with the CCG on your back and you were so happy and excited to be moving house I didn't want to ruin it for you, it was only when you left Tokyo that Kimi's and Nishio's disappearance was on the paper". Hide still looked annoyed though so Hinami asked the question,

"So what had Nishio-san been doing since?" She asked "You said that he's been torturing ghouls and humans for information on Karao Saeki?" Kaneki bit his lip to stop himself from cringing, Kaneki had been tortured before it was four years ago and he still had the mental scars of Jason and his 'tools', the thought of Nishio-sempai, his friend, doing something that Jason would do left with the feeling of anger and sickening in his stomach.

"I don't know why he's been torturing them" Touka shook his head "All I know is that he really wants to find Saeki and he would do anything to find him".

"You don't think it has something to do with Kimi-san does it?" Kaneki asked and Touka shrugged and said nothing suddenly everyone jumped to the sound of banging on a hard steel door at the bottom of the house.

"Looks like Nishio's up" Chie commented "Shouldn't we do something before he breaks down the door?"

"Don't worry" Hide said "That door is made of quinque steel, well I think it still is…Tsukiyama brought it to us a couple of years ago don't know how he got it but it should keep Nishio in"

"He's going disturbed the neighbours…" Kaneki commented but no one made a move towards the basement, it wasn't until ten minutes later that he had quietened down that the others thought that it was time to see him.

Xxx

Mutsuki and Kyramoto walked together for a bit just talking about nothing, there feet where leading them into a circlet around the main street that lead them back to the college. There they found Mado outside one of the van's talking to one of her men, she turned and spotted the two investigators and beckoned them over.

The man she was talking to moved away while the Mutsuki and Kyramoto moved forward, it was the fox like investigator who spoke first.

"Mado-san" She said "How is the investigation going?"

"Better than I expected" Mado nodded "No red lights on the RCCD's meaning no ghouls in the college, of course some of us would have to try again tomorrow since the students aren't in full time".

"Yeah I heard from Mutsuki that guy we suspected was a green light" Kyramoto said pointing his thumb in Mutsuki's direction who was shifting comfortably".

"Yeah" Mado sighed looking suddenly disappointed "I was so sure that he was Centipede or a ghoul at least, he was sweating himself once I turned the detector on him and it turns out he had quite a low RC level".

"So we had the wrong man then…" Kyramoto sighed "Looks like it's back to drawing board…at least we got the auction place right!"

"And just in time too" Mado then turned to Mutsuki "Have you managed to get your door fixed?"

"Shirazu and Saiko are seeing if the college could help fix the lock" Mutsuki answered "The usual guy who looks after the place is not around…"

"Staff these days" Mado rolled her eyes and turned to leave but Mutsuki stopped her.

"Mado-san!" He said "I want to help out with the auction raid!" Mado turned back to the green haired investigator in surprise then smiled sadly,

"Mutsuki you have just come out of hospital and you need support to walk" Akira said shaking her head "I just can't let that happen"

"But my foot getting better" Mutsuki protested although he knew deep down it was a lie "It will better by Friday and I won't need the support, please!" But Mado still look unconvinced.

"I don't know what you're so desperate about Mutsuki-kun!" Kyramoto laughed patting Mutsuki harshly on the shoulder "I mean I know it's going to be a big raid and all but you've already done you're part, besides there will be plenty more of opportunities to join in on raids in the future!"

"Itou-san is right on this one" Akira nodded "It's not like the fight for humanity is going to end in this one battle, it will take years if not decades until we drive the ghouls out of this world so don't think you have to do everything in one go, just heal up then after this raid and the CCG will search this town again for more stray ghouls and by then everyone including you're squad will go back to Tokyo"

' _Urie is not going to like the sound of that'_ Mutsuki thought to himself, this felt like they had given up on Haise Sasaki being Ken Kaneki.

Suddenly shouting could be heard, the three investigators turned (and everyone else in the background) to see a person jump out a black CCG car, it looked like a young girl with long black hair wearing a short black dress that came to her knees, it was also noticed that the girl had stiches on her arms. It wasn't until the girl had turned around did they see it wasn't a girl at all, it was Juuzou Suzuya, cosplaying?

"Guys! Guys!" He called out waving his arms excitably, he had a huge playful smile on his face like Christmas had come early "Guess what, guess what! I found Nutcracker!"

"What!" Akira, Mutsuki and even Kyramoto stared in disbelieve, shouldn't Nuts be in hiding? Did she come back to her home? Has she been slain? Why was Suzuya dressed as a girl?

"That's right" Suzuya said "It's a long story but Nutcracker offered me a job where she works, she said she will drive me to the place this Friday, I suppose she's planning to take me to the auction, don't you see? This is perfect! I can now invade the auction from the inside!"

 **Note: Sorry for the long wait but I came back from holiday last week and I can now go back to my weekly updates** **. Sorry if this chapter wasn't as exciting but there will be one more set up chapter then a time skip and our characters can get started on the auction. Since I can't fit in when Kaneki and the squad members dress as girls I decided to have Suzuya do it instead now Mutsuki just needs to convince them to take him to the auction.**

 **I would like to thank Thinker Anon, LuffyTheKing115, tats magicalmcguffins, for reviewing the last two chapters and I see we have 49 followers one more and it's up to 50, this is turning to my most followed stories and I'm soooo happy :D**


	13. College Arc: Plots

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 13: Plots**

Suzuya, Mutsuki discovered was a really good story teller, he explained how he got a call from Hanbee saying that the Nutcracker ghoul had been seen walking down the street like it was nothing but instead of closing in on her Suzuya asked them to hang on and wait for him. He was going to do things in his own way.

Suzuya had gotten dressed is his female disguise and asked one of his staff to drive him to the outside of town where Nutcracker was sighted. He had found her sitting in a local café drinking coffee and seemed to be chatting up some young man. Suzuya had sat on a table on his own only a few feet from his target pretended to be reading the menu. Suzuya tried to think of a way he could talk to her with arousing suspicion and it wasn't until the waitress came to bring the investigators glass of coke.

Once the waitress brought it over and disappeared back behind the counter did Nutcracker get up to excuse herself to the toilet, she was walking past Suzuya's table and he saw his chance. Trying to look as innocent and accidental prone as possible he knocked his coke onto Nutcrackers shoes and white skirt and the glass shattered to the floor then Suzuya put up the best act he had done in years.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" He said, keeping his voice high and soft like a girls as a waitress got up to clean the mess, Nutcracker stood there in shock staring down at the new brown stains on her lovely white skirt. "I'm so clumsy sometimes, here let me buy you a drink as an apology"

"I don't think a simple drink would pay me back for the price of this skirt" Nutcracker said with smile but Suzuya could hear the irritation in her voice, she was a vain woman after all.

"How much did it cost then?" He asked

"You don't want to know, it's nothing a small girl like you could pay off" Nutcracker really had no idea, Suzuya thought. The young investigator didn't see himself as being good at talking to girls but he decided to take a shot,

"You wear such lovely clothes" The young investigator said "and you look so beautiful as well, I hope I grow up to be like you one day!" It seems that the flattery worked, Suzuya could see the small twitch of a smile and that gleam in her eyes which Suzuya had seen many times when dealing with these type of ghouls.

In the end Suzuya did buy Nutcracker a drink (of coffee of course) and he was invited to join her table. They young man did seem a little put out though, obviously not liking that his 'date' brought another girl with her and Suzuya couldn't blame him. She seemed to be more interested in Suzuya than the male in front of her. Nutcracker was too busy badgering Suzuya with questions about clothes, make up, hair, you know the type of things a normal 23 year old male investigator wouldn't know about?

But Suzuya believed he pulled if off quite well as Nutcracker smiled and nodded listening to every word the 'investigator' was saying, it wasn't until an hour later that the young man gave up and went home and that Nutcracker had told Suzuya about a little club she works for and offered to take Suzuya there this Friday, on the day of the auction.

Suzuya couldn't help but smile and agree, this was perfect.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the two parted ways, Nutcracker going god knows where and Suzuya was skipping back to Hanbee and the rest of his squad. Then he drove back to the college to tell Akira, Mutsuki and Kuramoto what happened.

The three listened to the story with disbelief and interest, this changed things and they now had an inside source.

"And what time are you meant to be meeting Nutcracker?" Akira asked the cross-dressed investigator.

"8.00pm this Friday" Suzuya said beaming then a look of shock spread across his face "Oh! I need to tell Associate Special Class Washuu!" And with that he hoped away from the group towards the CCG vans

"Does he even know where Washuu is?" Kuramoto asked once Suzuya,

"That's Associate Special Class Washuu to you Kuramoto" Akira said sternly

"So is Special Class Washuu is leading the auction raid?" Mutsuki asked with interested, he didn't know much about Washuu but he had heard from others that Washuu had a long bloody record, his main concern was more about graining results not on how many investigators survived.

"Yes he is" Akira nodded "Now excuse me, but I have some work to do" And with Akira left and Kuramoto bid Mutsuki goodbye and Mutsuki was left one his own with a plan sprouting in his head.

Xxx

Kaneki, Touka, Hide, Hinami and Chie travelled down the stairs leading to the basement, the room was quite now and not a sound could be heard but that didn't calm the groups nervous. It only meant they would have to be more careful.

"Ok" Kaneki started in whisper "I want Chie and Hide to stand back, Hinami you guard them and me and Touka-chan will be at the front in case he pops out understand?" Everyone nodded and did as instructed. Kaneki took out the keys and slowly pushed the door open, when Touka and Kaneki looked they saw no one was in the room, it was empty. But luckily Kaneki and Touka were experts and were prepared for the dark shape to jump from the ceiling and attempt to attack the two ghouls but Touka was faster. Like Kaneki had done she pulled back her leg and kicked Nishio hard in the chin and he fell back to the ground groaning, the group just stared at the fallen ghoul in shock.

"Now let see if we can have a nice, civilized conversation shall we?" Touka said as the group moved inside the room and Kaneki locked the door so Nishio couldn't think about escaping.

"Now Nishio" Kaneki clapped his hands together, he didn't fancy revering Nishio by 'sempai' at the moment now knowing what Nishio had done "You have a lot say for yourself!"

The named ghoul pulled himself up into a seating position, he noticed the crowd standing around him in a circle looking down at him. Two humans, one who could use a quinque and there were three ghouls two of them where S and SS ranked and one of them had two kagune's and going by the fight an hour ago he didn't think much of his chances of escape.

"You are going tell us what you have been doing for the past three years" Kaneki said "And why you are looking for Torso?".

"And you are also going to tell us where Kimi-san is" Touka said harshly, Nishio couldn't help but give a small laugh,

"I was afraid something like this would happen" Nishio laughed sadly staring down at the floor "you all would try and get involved in my personal business…"

"According to Touka you have been torturing people for information" Kaneki started with anger boiling inside his voice "It is about time that _someone_ got involved".

"You might as well spill it out Nishio" Hide said sadly, not bothering with politeness either "We will find out sooner or later and the sooner you're honest with us the sooner you can get out of this room"

Nishio didn't look like he had heard him but he was taking his words into account, Nishio sighed and ran his hand though his thick messy hair.

"Ok, I will tell you…" He said "But I warn you, you won't like what you hear" he took a deep breath and became his story.

"It started on that night, do you remember Hide? We were looking for Kaneki and we found him eating that investigator?" Hide nodded including Kaneki, they both remembered it well "After I walked Kaneki and Hide home I went back to the scene of the crime to try and clean up the mess that Kaneki made, when I was done I went back to my flat…" Nishio paused, the group noticed that the ghoul's voice was starting to tremble and he clutched the hem of his coat tightly "The flat was empty…."

"Is that strange?" Chie asked, tilting her head in interest.

"Of course it is!" Nishio snapped back in anger "It was midnight and Kimi should have been home!"

"So what did you do?" Kaneki asked gently, he could pretty much guess what had had happened to Kimi, he just hoped that it wasn't true…

"Well first I tried calling her mobile" Nishio said "But I got no answer, my first presumption was that maybe that bastard Gourmet kidnaped her again!"

"Not an unreasonable thought" Touka couldn't help but mumble, but if they heard her they ignored it and Nishio carried on.

"But when I went to the Gourmets house he didn't know what I was talking about and everything was normal so went off on my own to search, I kept calling and going back to the flat but there was no sign of her until I spoke with some old friends of mine and they told me about a ghoul named Torso who goes around Tokyo and hunts down girls with scars".

Kaneki remembered that Kimi had a scar on her shoulder, she had got it when Nishio nearly ate her when discovering that he was a ghoul.

"They told me where to find him" Nishio continued "I broke into his home…" His voice was starting to shake more, it was like he couldn't continue. It was Hide and Hinami who had the most compassion in the group and could feel the distress, Hide bravely knelt down and put a hand on the ghouls shoulder.

"It's alright Nishio" He said gently "You don't have to tell us, Kimi-san is dead isn't she?" The room stayed silent, Nishio had stopped trembling and the only thing in his eyes was cold, hard anger

"It was Karao Saeki!" He spit out the name like it was poison "I found her head on the ground and the rest of her body lying on of his bed! I took her head, body and legs then buried her in the woods then I went back for Torso!" Kaneki couldn't help but feel the sickness of what he was hearing, he had known Kimi for a while, he had saved her life and she used to come to Anteiku all the time! For her to be killed in such a way it was…

"But it seemed that I was grieving at Kimi's grave for too long" Nishio said with bitterness in his voice Kaneki noticed that the ghoul wasn't crying, probably because he had cried enough for Kimi already "Because I went back to that sick bastards house and waited for days but he never came"

"He must have noticed Kimi's body missing and knew someone must have found him" Touka said quietly, looking just as sick as Kaneki felt.

"For the past three years I have been searching for him!" Nishio screamed "But I didn't know his face and the only thing I knew was that he worked for Aogiri Tree and those guys are hard to trace"

"What about all those people you tortured" Kaneki could help but sneer bitterly "I don't suppose they could offer you any help…"

Nishio didn't answer, he kept his head down in defeat unable to look at Kaneki as he sneered down at the ghoul who was once his friend, Kaneki wanted to scream, to shout, Nishio had tried to kill them and had been killing and torturing others, it made him sick and what was worse Nishio got nothing out of it! His victims couldn't help him or tell him anything so what was the point?

"What, you can't explain you're actions?" Kaneki said trying to keep his voice calm "Why did not just come to us in the first place? Why did you not go to RE? We could have avoided all this mess!"

"I don't to be lectured by _you_!" Nishio snapped as he leapt up pushing Hide out of way and aimed a punch towards Kaneki, Kaneki didn't expect it but luckily he was only a second faster than Nishio he grabbed the ghoul's fist before it could make contact with his face.

"Look what's happened to you Nishio" Kaneki said and he started down at the angered ghoul keeping tight hold of his fist. "You tried to get revenge on your own but why? For Kimi-san's sake or was it get stronger?" This seemed to make Nishio angrier it was shown in his face, no one dared to break into the conflict, Kaneki was strong and he could handle it.

"You might have grown stronger physically but you mental stability has grown weak" Kaneki continued "The Nishio I knew was smart, he would never tried to attack after beating him once he wasn't that type of guy, maybe it's the guilt of killing and torturing all those innocent ghouls and humans that has clouded you're judgement you can't even make out friend or foe"

"Shut up!" Nishio screamed spit shooting from his mouth " _Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!"_ Kaneki stayed silent, the others admiring the calm attitude the half-ghoul displayed as he looked eyelevel at Nishio with impassive eyes and a slight frown on his face, it was the type of look you would give a child who was having a tantrum.

"It's your fault!" Nishio continued to scream "If you didn't cause trouble on that day I would have been at home with Kimi protecting her!" With that he pathetically sank to floor at Kaneki feet, the group watched as the usually strong bikaku ghoul put his head in his hands, he didn't sob but he was holding back the tears and it was hard for the group to watch.

"I think we should go…" Hinami whispered, there was no way they could comfort the ghoul not after what they had just heard and what had happened to their friend, so they left the room locking the door once again.

Xxx

"Dammit!" Touka cried bashing her fist against the table, luckily there were no cups on the table or they would have smashed to the floor, "Poor Kimi, why her of all people!"

"And she's been dead for three years and we only just found out" Kaneki said, feeling sick to the stomach as if someone had shoved cake down his throat. He was not only sick by Nishio's response to his actions but also the fact he hadn't thought about all this sooner. They knew something was wrong with Nishio when he stopped taking Kaneki's and Hide's calls yet they did nothing about it! Never asked their friends were his was, never tried to look him up and not once did they think about Kimi and all this time she had been buried under some tree with only one person to grieve for her.

To be honest, Kaneki thought it was better that she didn't have any left family to miss her.

Hinami and Chie stayed silent not knowing what to say, neither knew Kimi that well or had much with contact with Nishio so none could really feel the grieve Kaneki, Touka and Hide were going though.

"We should off done more" Hide couldn't help but say, Kaneki agreed since that was one sentence that had been going through his head since leaving the basement. Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat brought everyone's attention, it was Chie and she spoke carefully,

"Look I know this is a shocking and sad time for all of you, but we need to plan our next move, we can't keep Nishio-kun in the basement and this seems like a good excuse as any to go to the auction"

"You mean try to get revenge for Kimi-san death?" Hinami said with a shake of her head "Revenge won't bring Kimi-san it only brings you more anger and prevents you from living your own life, that's what Yoshimura-san used to say wasn't it?" She asked turning towards Touka and the older girl smiled and nodded,

"Somewhere on those lines" She said but then the frown was back "And it's true I mean look what it's done to Nishio-san, I've seen him beaten up a few time but I never seen him look so weak"

"I still stand by what I said before" Hide said suddenly with both hands on the table "What I'm about to say now is going to sound quite cold but I still don't see a reason for us to get involved with the auction" Hide lifted his hand up for silence as Kaneki was about to interrupt "Now I know what you are about to say Kaneki, that there is no grantee that the CCG will kill Torso since he could escape in the commotion, from what I can grain from his personality due to his killings and earlier events is that he's cowardly. He has never faced an investigator head on and his prey are also weak it's possible that he will run away once CCG break in"

"Then that's the more the reason for us to go" Kaneki said not hiding annoyance in his voice "We can't just let him escape, he could do something like this again and ruin someone else's life!"

"But remember Kaneki that he also works for Aogiri Tree" Touka said stepping "If he's going to be at the auction he will be one of the ones to body guard Big Madam so if he runs away and neither CCG or us kill him I'm sure Aogiri will".

"So we are just going to sit back and cross our fingers and hope for best" Kaneki said not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice, for some reason it would feel wrong if he didn't go to the auction and he knew the others wouldn't understand but he felt the need to go, it was like he had something to do there that he was forgetting something important but he couldn't say because it wouldn't come to his head.

"Afraid so" Hide shrugged "And I don't think we've told you this yet but we might have a spy working with us".

"What!" Kaneki snapped his head up staring at Hide in disbelieve looking around the room "Not one of us!"

"Of course not" Hide sighed with a little eye-roll "It must be someone working at RE or someone who knows us".

"Why do you think we have a spy?" Kaneki couldn't help but ask, the idea of a traitor being in his circle of friends unsettled him and wasn't something he could take lightly.

"It was me who suggested it" Touka said graining all the attention onto her "It's never crossed you're mind why Aogiri Tree is using this town for the auction, the same town you're living in now? And who do think told the CCG that you and Aogiri Tree might be here? Did you think it was some coincidence?"

Kaneki couldn't answer that, what Touka said made sense and he felt stupid for not realising it earlier. Kaneki didn't believe in coincidence, that accident years ago that turned him into a half ghoul was done on purpose for reasons Kaneki didn't yet understand. That day had been planned and staged so did that mean all what has happened this week and all what was going to happen on Friday had also been planned?

"That's why I think" Touka continued "that any information which we have discovered we must kept to ourselves and be shared between us five until we know who the spy is".

"Do we have any ideas who the spy is?" Hinami asked, who was just as shocked. Touka shook her head sadly,

"No we don't, but this spy could be giving information to both the CCG and Aogiri Tree or maybe Aogiri have a spy as well who been passing info onto CCG so that makes two spies"

"But why would they do something like that?" Chie asked suddenly "let's say we have one spy and he's in our group why would they tell both CCG and Aogiri? That doesn't make sense!"

"Well if this spy wants to get rid of Kaneki then that's two organizations with a chance" Hide said "Or maybe this spy likes to mess about?"

"Or if there are two spy" Touka started "The spy in our group might have told Aogiri while the spy in Aogiri could have told the CCG"

"So if there are two then they don't know about each other's existence?" Kaneki said, all these possibilities were getting confusing.

"Possibly yes" Touka nodded "But I prefer the thought of having one spy in our group since that is the most definite". Hinami nodded in agreement but had to ask the question,

"But who in our group would want to do something like that to onii-chan?" She asked feeling slightly upset.

"I don't know" Touka sighed running her fingers though her hair "I've been going through names and people in my head for days now and I can't think who the traitor could be! At first I thought it was Nishio but then hearing his story I now find it unlikely it's him, then I thought about Tsukiyama since he's away at such a confident time…"

"I doubt that" Kaneki said shaking his head "I spoke to him this morning to tell him about the auction and for information on Rosewald and he seemed honest for once".

"Beside" Chie interrupted "I'm sure if Kaneki were ever to die Shuu would get really depressed so I don't think he's the spy" No one could disagree with that logic.

"You don't think one of our friends might have given out some information to someone without realizing it" Hinami suggested,

"That's also possible" Touka shrugged "Like a friend of a friend but for now we have no leads, so Kaneki" She turned towards the half ghoul "If this was all staged and the spy wanted both CCG and Aogiri in this town then that means that they are betting on you to come to interfere with the auction so they can deal with you there, don't give them what they want it's not worth it!"

Kaneki stayed silent not looking at anyone in the group, too much was going on in his mind and he had already decided what he was going to on Friday, alone or not he was going to the auction he couldn't explain it but he just knew he would find the answers there. He just had to make the necessary arrangements.

Xxx

Mutsuki had come home to find the door fixed and Saiko and Shirazu home but luckily Urie was out somewhere. He found Saiko sitting at the table eating some lunch and Shirazu was lounging about on the sofa flicking though channels.

"Hey Mutsuki, where the hell have you been?" Shirazu asked as soon as Mutsuki closed the door "we were a little worried you know? As soon as we came back Urie stormed out and you weren't here, has something happened?"

"No" Mutsuki lied, he didn't fancy telling the others his conversation with Urie "I see we got a new lock?"

"Yeah, it was the college handyman who fixed it" Shirazu answered "It was Sasaki who told us to go to him, a nice guy that Izumi is and Sasaki of course, here's the new key" Shirazu tossed Mutsuki the key "Not that we would need it long though, there's no reason for us to stay after the auction"

"Yeah…" Mutsuki nodded and put the key in his pocket and went to his room to plan, he looked at the clock hanging on the wall it was nearly pointing to three and the CCG meeting wasn't until another three hours and he had some planning to do till then.

Xxx

A few miles away back in the dingy corners at the edge of the town, a shining new red car, which must have cost an arm and a leg, parked outside an abandoned apartment building. The dashing car looked rather out of place on this side of town, in fact it was the most cleanest thing in the area and the citizens wondered why anyone who had enough money to buy such a car had come here? Normally such a person would be afraid to park their car in such an area were gangs of rebels could wreck it or try to break into it but this person wasn't worried.

The car door opened and a man looking around aged 60 but still had the healthy glow of a young man, stepped out the car and looked up at the apartment building with a slight smile on his face. He locked the car and made his way towards the building.

The old man lightly knocked on the front door of the building, as if scared it would fall down and out of the misty glass panel he could see a dark shape of a young male coming over and opened the door and the old man was greeted with the face of Ayato Kirishima.

"Dr Kanou" Ayato greeted politely, although he would never bow or shake hands with the doctor "Eto is waiting for you on the top floor"

Ayato lead the way up the stairs to his own large room where Eto was waiting, unfortunately for them the lift was out of order since there was no electric running in the building anymore but Kanou didn't complain instead he smiled and nodded at any of the ghouls who walked passed.

Once at the top floor Ayato opened the door and walked in followed by Kanou. Eto was sitting on the window ledge staring out at the blue sky, it was a beautiful day and it was going to be lovely all week.

"Ah, Kanou!" Eto greeted turning away from the scenery to meet her guest, Ayato was sure there was smile underneath all those bandages. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle in my old age" The doctor smiled so warmly that it didn't fit the dark atmosphere of the room and Ayato couldn't help but shiver. There was something he didn't like about Doctor Kanou, how he acted so calm around ghouls although he was only a human he could somehow keep that kind doctor like smile on his face during the worst of times.

To Ayato the man was unnatural.

Eto gave a small chuckle and jumped gracefully of the window ledge to the floor. "Will you be staying for the auction doctor?" She asked innocently yet the said doctor shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't plan to stay here long" He said "you see the equipment I need is too delicate and I'd rather keep it at my hideout in Tokyo, I have just come to see if everything is set up and our young _owl_ is ready?"

"Oh he will be" Eto said leaning against the wall "I've made sure not to feed him for a while so the poor thing will be chewing at his fingers soon enough" She gave a small chuckle "Although I can't promise that out target will be at the auction though".

"Oh?" He doctor said with a looked of puzzlement on his face "Was Saeki-san no use for the job?" The asked but it was Ayato who answered,

"I'm afraid that something went wrong in the middle of Torso's investigation" He answered "You see the Doves have already closed in on the town and now have Torso's face and they probably know about the auction, but luckily Torso escaped and will be a part of the group body-guarding Big Madam"

"I see" Kanou sighed, clearly disappointed in the news "That's a shame; I'd rather know for certain if our finest Centipede is coming but that's no matter, we might still able to catch ourselves some useful test subjects".

"Couldn't agree more" Eto said joining her hands together and tilting her head to the side "And is Athena in Tokyo yet?"

"Why of course" Kanou nodded "She received the instructions you sent me and she said she can do it but only if Floppy has been dealt with".

"She shouldn't worry so much" Eto sighed pushing herself of the wall to pace the room "I'm more worried about Floppy invading the auction than anything else".

' _Floppy?'_ Ayato he thought that Eto had sorted that out already.

"Understood" Kanou nodded "we just have to hope that our experiment meets our expectations.

"I'm sure he will" Eto said with a smile in her voice, she felt giddy just thinking about how the CCG will react when they see what Aogiri's done to one of their own investigators...

"By the way" She said "I got some info from our spy before, it seems that our little Kaneki has gotten stronger than ever, you know that ghoul who we've been having trouble with, Serpent?"

"Yeah...?" Ayato asked, he hadn't spoken to the spy for a while now but it seemed that this time the person has spoken to Eto first and not him.

"Well it seems that he got his kagune shredded by Kaneki in one swift movement!"

"But that's extraordinary" The doctor said clapping his hands together "A Rinkaku shouldn't be able to break a Bikaku so easily".

"Well Kaneki is an extraordinary person" Eto said shrugging "Which means I want to have him even more..."

Xxx

The time was now quarter to six and Urie, Shirazu, Mutsuki and even Saiko were walking to the town centre where the meeting of the auction raid was going to be held. The atmosphere felt tense, Mutsuki looked uncomfortable and seemed to be back off from Urie as much as possible without straying away from the group and Urie just looked more pissed off than usual and was walking a head of everyone else.

To Shirazu's relief they made it to the town hall where a load of white coated investigators were getting set up. The four rank three's found a bench and sat next to Akira, the room was full of voice both excited and nervous but they still had five minutes.

"Rank three Mutsuki" Akira said turning to the green haired investigator next to her "You know that you don't need to here? You should be resting at home"

"I kept telling him that" Shirazu said "but does he listen? No" Mutsuki ignored them, he had to be here and learn the details if his plan was going to work, there was no way he was going to sit at home twiddling his thumbs while his friends were risking their lives and he was certainly not going to miss this meeting.

Soon enough Associate Special Class Matsuri Washuu walked onto the front platform carrying a laptop underneath his arm and the chatter died down.

"Thank you all for coming" he spoke his voice sounded cold and lacked emotion, Mutsuki didn't like it "I understand that we are very low on time since the auction was sooner than we participated, but that is no matter, we are the CCG and we will be prepared whenever is necessary" The audience was now hooked on Washuu's every word the atmosphere suddenly became very businesslike and profession compared to the chatter a minute prior.

"As we all know from Ginshi Shirazu's brave attempt yesterday" Washuu said and Shirazu suddenly looked very proud of himself "We now know that the auction will be held at 9:00 pm, Friday 13th at the college hall. It is being organized by Big Madam and will be attended by some S ranking ghouls and possibly some Aogiri Tree members. Our main task is to exterminate the ghouls inside the building, Big Madam is the high priority also we rescue the civilians captured"

Mutsuki couldn't help but notice how little Washuu expressed the concerns about saving the humans inside. 

"We already planned earlier today every squads role in the auction raid" The leader continued "The front assault will be Atou, Ooshiba and Mado Squad" Mado squad Mutsuki knew consisted of himself, Urie, Shirazu and Saiko "However Akira Mado herself will take command of the White Suits Combat along with Tateshima and Isai squad. The duty of sealing of the escape routes will belong to Shibashi and Hirako Squad. Meanwhile, I'm some of you are aware that Associate Special Class Juuzou Suzuya has found a way to interfere in the auction as being one of the hostages, his squad will be insuring his safety"

Then once said Washuu showed a map on the projector of the college and its grounds explaining on how Suzuya will meet Nutcracker and where he wants the squads positioned for the raid and what everyone needs to do. Mutsuki couldn't help but feel nervous though, Washuu's record of overseeing operations had lead to many deaths of investigators and he couldn't help but feel like this raid was going to be no different.

Xxx

Touka and Chie stayed at the house for a few more hours until it was time they decided they should go home. The group had come no closer to an agreement on what to do with Nishio so they decided to leave him in the basement for the night or two and then let him out when the dreaded auction has come to an end. The two girls walked and Chie spoke,

"Do you think Kaneki will go to the auction?" She asked the female ghoul who was looking a bit depressed,

"I wouldn't put it past him" Touka with a sigh "I wouldn't be surprised if he already has a plan on how to get in".

"I wouldn't either" Chie said "You know why he's doing this don't you?" Touka nodded, she would like to think that Kaneki was doing this because he was an idiot but she knew that wasn't the case.

"These past four years living in this town, being a teacher and living a normal life has been more like a holiday for him than a permanent solution" Touka said nodding "We are ghouls there is no such thing as a quite normal life, its same for the people who hang around with them" She couldn't help but glaze at Chie while saying that.

"Don't worry" The small woman smiled "I don't want a normal quite life, it must be the same for Hide as well I mean living with two ghouls you are only asking for trouble" Touka nodded in agreement ,

"He cares about Kaneki a lot" She said sadly, she couldn't help but think how lucky Kaneki was to have a human friend that cared for him and it made her think about her own human friend Yoriko who right now was looking after her cafe back in Tokyo. She wondered how she would react if she knew what Touka was and what she has done. "He wants Kaneki to have the normal human life that he should have had" She said "But I think Hide knows that deep down it won't last and it's not really what Kaneki wants or needs?"

"Oh yeah..." Chie said scratching her head in thought "I forgot he still hasn't discovered who Rize really was or got the answers he needs from that Kanou guy" Suddenly Touka heard her phone buzz in her pocket, she pulled it out and the name Yoriko was on the screen. Touka couldn't help but think how funny it was since she was thinking about the human girl before, she answered the call and put the phone to her ear,

"Hi Yoriko" Touka said cheerfully "Is everything ok?" Chie couldn't hear what was being said down the other end of the phone, she could only watch as Touka nodded and smiled, she said goodbye and turned off the phone and turned to Chie.

"It was only Yoriko" Touka said smiling "Just saying that she won't be able to look after the cafe on Friday because she has an exam coming up".

"Oh I see" Chie nodded and the two girls continued to walk in silence.

Xxx

Back at the house Kaneki was already making his way up to his bedroom, Hinami had started to cook dinner for Hide as he sat on the sofa thinking. He knew he couldn't change Kaneki's mind he bet the half-ghoul already had a plan in his head, Hide had noticed that Kaneki had also took his phone to the bedroom which meant he was going to make a call to someone but Hide couldn't guess what was going through his best friends mind. The only thing Hide could do was be there for him and try to find out his plan before Friday,

"Hinami-chan?" Hide said turning towards the female ghoul who was busy boiling something in a pan "Leave me to watch the cooking" He said "Can you listen to what Kaneki is doing in room, I think he's going to make a phone call" Hinami nodded and the two swapped places with Hide watching the pan while Hinami sat on the sofa and it was true that he onii-chan was talking on the phone to someone. She hated using her gift to spy on her brother, it was like an invasion of privacy but she knew why Hide had asked her do this, she couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the phone but she could slowly work out how Kaneki was going to get into the auction.

 **Wow this is a long chapter wasn't it, the next chapter we can start the auction and I wonder what our characters have planned and who the hell is Fox?**

 **I would like to thank the following reviewers: Guest, StolenBook, Flowering Lotus and reality deviant. I would also I like to say that we now have over 50 followers! (53 to be exact) Thank you so much it makes me happy when people are waiting for the next chapter!**

 **IMPORTANT: By request I have been asked to look for a Beta! I have already fixed chapters 1 to 5 but it's not easy reviewing your own work and if there is a Beta reading this story I would really like the help or if you can request me one I would also be thankful!**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	14. Auction Arc: Clowns

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 14: Clowns**

Nothing special happened on Thursday. Kaneki only had a morning class that day so he woke up early as usual from another crazy dream which was basically the same one he had on Tuesday. He walked to the college on his own and told Hinami's teacher that she was off sick. While teaching his class Mutsuki, Urie, Shirazu and Saiko came in as normal and he noticed nothing strange about them expect they being sloppy about their work but Kaneki knew he shouldn't be surprised. They will be leaving soon, after the auction raid so it seemed that the RCCD1 pretty much saved his butt that day rather and kill it.

While teaching he could help but glance at his phone once in a while, he was expecting an email today and it would put him at ease if it came sooner rather than later. He was glad when class ended and he waved his students off, he packed his case and set off back home only briefly wishing Honda-san a nice weekend before stepping out of the college and into the fresh sunny air.

Once he got home the house was quite, Hide was back in work but where was Hinami? "Hinami-chan?" Kaneki called out and was replied with Hinami's voice,

"It's ok Onii-chan I'm down in the basement" Kaneki felt his heart skip a beat, Hinami was alone with Nishio? He quickly moved across the room and down the stairs to the basement cursing himself for not bringing the basement key's to work with him. But to his relief once he opened the basement door he found Hinami and Nishio sitting on the floor at a safe distance from each other, Nishio held a cup of coffee in his hands as Hinami sat across from him.

"I thought Nishio-san would like a drink of coffee" His sister said with a worried smile on her face "you don't mind do you?"

"No its fine" Kaneki shook his head "But the guy's dangerous Hinami, you could of just waited until I got home"

"The guy is right here you know" Nishio grumbled taking a sip of his coffee but Kaneki ignored him, no one really knew what to do with him but if Kaneki managed to kill Torso tomorrow night then there was no reason not to let Nishio out without worrying if he will be seeking revenge or be killing people.

Suddenly Kaneki's phone made the pinging noise he had been waiting for all morning, he felt his heart light up and he just hoped that it wasn't junk mail.

"What is it onii-chan?" Hinami asked noticing the gleam in her brothers eyes once the ping sound came from the phone,

"Never you mind" Kaneki said with that cheeky smile on his that Hinami loved so much, it was a care free smile he used when telling a bad pun or when he had prank up his sleeve, but Hinami knew what it was, she had listened to the phone conversation after all.

He pulled his phone out but didn't look at if until he opened the door, "Come on Hinami" He gestured "I'm not leaving you down here alone with him" Hinami being the good little sister she was got up and walked to the door, Kaneki making sure she went in front. Kaneki then stepped out of the room and locked the door without looking back at the depressed Nishio.

Xxx

Kaneki shut himself in his bedroom, turned on his laptop and opened up the same email he had on his phone. Now Kaneki wasn't great with computers, it was more of a Hide thing but he knew how to print an email off. If seemed that even though a thousand miles away Tsukiyama still had his uses.

He called the ghoul yesterday, not long after Touka and Chie left. He knew Tsukiyama still had connections to ghoul restaurants and auctions and to get into these things you need an invitation which Tsukiyama was able to get him. The invitation was printed with a fake name, (he couldn't risk using his alias Haise Sasaki in case Aogiri Tree knew it) and the time and place of the auction, it also had his seat number written down, Tsukiyama ensured that Kaneki will be sitting next to Rosewald.

Kaneki smile and put the invitation inside the draw under his desk where he kept his two masks, both will come useful on the auction on Friday night.

Xxx

Mutsuki was training. The rest of his group were helping out the fellow investigators in organizing equipment or training for the upcoming battle (even Saiko was doing something!) so Mutsuki had the whole house to himself and at this moment he was in kitchen learning how to handle knifes. He wanted to ask Suzuya for help, but he didn't want to ruin his plan and his plan which depended on Suzuya's actions on Friday night so he practiced on his own getting his information off books and the internet.

Mutsuki wondered as he practiced, how Suzuya could use all these amazing knife moves and not feel scared? What if something went wrong like if the knife accidently came down on him? Mutsuki shuddered at the thought and pushed the scenario from the back of his mind, such thoughts weren't good while practicing so he had to keep positive. So he practiced for a few good hours only stopping for a drink now and then, he wanted to get as much practice in until his friends came back.

Xxx

The rest of the day went without issue and soon it was Friday morning and sun was beating down on the town, which wasn't really right for the tense atmosphere between the characters. White coated investigators walked around town with stern faces and worried expressions, although Kuramoto tried to lighten up the mood with a smile and joke now and then it was easy to see that he was just as nervous as everyone else.

In the student flat Akira was lecturing the other three on what's to be done at the auction and how not to get killed while Mutsuki stayed in his bedroom staring down at the white dress and he laid out on his bed. He hadn't worn a dress since his parents died, he had thrown nearly all of the girl clothes away and replaced them with men ones expect for the white dress. He also had some spare make up with him as well, now looking back he was glad he kept the dress and make up as they will help him get into the auction. Well as a hostage that is.

The sound of knocking on his door distracted him from his thoughts, he quickly hid the dress under his duvet and answered the door to find Shirazu standing there trying to look cool but Mutsuki could tell that he felt awkward and a bit nervous by the way he scratched his head and shuffled his feet.

"Hey Mutsuki" Shirazu started trying to sound confident but was failing "Me and others are going to the town hall where the rest of the CCG investigators are getting ready and its unlikely we will be coming back to the house before the auction starts".

"But it's only eleven o clock?" Mutsuki pointed out since the operation didn't start for another nine hours.

"Yeah I know" Shirazu shrugged "But because we are a little behind since we didn't know the auction was going to be so soon, there is a lot to do in such short notice soooo"

"Please come back safely" Mutsuki said trying to hide the sadness in his voice,

"Of course we will" Shirazu smiled patting Mutsuki on the shoulder "It's us you know, the Mado squad! We will come back in one piece so don't stay up waiting all night for us ok?"

"Ok" Mutsuki nodded, feeling honest for once. He won't be sitting at home waiting for them instead he will joining in with the battle, he just hoped his friends won't get to mad at him for disobeying orders.

Xxx

Hide and Hinami were the only ones up that morning, Kaneki was still in bed recovering from another nightmare. Last night had been terrible, Hide had awoken to shouting and screaming coming from Kaneki's room it had even awoken Hinami. They had opened Kaneki's door to find the half-ghoul tossing and turning in his bed with his face full of pain and anguish. Unfortunately neither Hide nor Hinami had the body strength to waken the tortured half-ghoul so they had to wait it out, and what a painful five minutes it was.

Once Kaneki had shot up awake and two friends tried to comfort him, normally this wouldn't be too hard but it seemed that Kaneki was still trapped in the nightmare. Hinami looked like she wanted to cry as her onii-chans eyes didn't seem to be looking at two, his eyes were blank like he was seeing something the others couldn't and his body was trembling as if he was having a fit and the only words coming from his mouth were numbers counting back in sevens from a thousand.

All the female ghoul and human could do was hold him and wait until the half-ghoul came back to his senses. Hide and Hinami had dealt with Kaneki's nightmares for years now, Hinami who had dealt with them longer told Hide that he hadn't had a nightmare this bad since he started to live with Hide.

Hide didn't know what Kaneki was dreaming about but he guessed it was something to do with his torture with Jason. At this moment Hinami was in the basement giving Nishio a morning coffee and Hide was still trying to work out what had set Kaneki off that night but that wasn't the only issue, he needed to find a way to place tracker device on Kaneki.

Hinami came back up from the basement, she must have only been down there for five minutes.

"Hey Hide?" Hinami said interrupting the blond from his thoughts "Do you want me awake onii-chan, it's just gone past eleven?"

"Good idea" Hide nodded "Best bring up some coffee though" Hinami did as suggested, once she made the coffee to the best of her abilities Hide heard her travel up stairs leaving Hide alone again.

Around twenty minutes later Hinami came back down,

"Onii-chan is going to have a shower" She said quietly "If you still want to place that tracker now is the best time to do it, if you haven't thought of a good place yet I would recommend his mask he wouldn't go to a raid without it" Hide wanted to hit himself, why had he not thought of that before.

He waited a while until he could hear the shower running then he snuck up stairs with the small tracker clutched in his hand. The bathroom door was closed and locked and he could hear Kaneki singing in the shower like last night was nothing and like there wasn't an auction raid even being planned.

Hide slowly opened the door to Kaneki's room, he knew were his friend kept his masks. Yes Kaneki had two masks and he kept them both in the draw under his desk which he never locked. Hide pulled the draw open and inside he found Kaneki's usual mask he used to wear for battles, it was black with large white teeth attached by a zip and an eyepatch to hide half of the upper part of the face. The one next to that couldn't be any more different.

Although the second mask had large teeth like the first it was a full mask instead of a half and was a plain white colour with a heart and plus sign where the eyes should be. Hide had the pleasure of not seeing this mask be used by Kaneki and he was pretty glad because the mask remained Hide of a clown that scared him shitless as a kid.

Knowing most of Kaneki's plan Hide decided to put the tacking device on the first mask and attached it where the back of the neck was. Hide knew Kaneki was planning to use both these masks but the black eyepatch mask was easier to hide the device in. Then suddenly Hide noticed a piece of paper in the drawer, he picked it up and suddenly realized what it was, was the invitation that Tsukiyama must of sent him yesterday.

He put it back in its rightful place, he knew better than steal it so Kaneki couldn't get into the auction besides Kaneki would just print out a new one. No it was best to let Kaneki get on what he need to do, the tracking device is not to be used to interfere with Kaneki's goal but to keep track on him.

Hide left the room with a new determination set in.

Xxx

For the rest of the day everyone was getting ready including Aogiri Tree and Madam, of course they couldn't do anything until six o clock when the college was shut. And at this moment the CCG was getting ready in the town hall, a nervous atmosphere filled the air and not too far away in a small rented flat a female ghoul with purple hair was getting herself ready. Touka was getting her battle gear together which wasn't much, she still had a couple of hours but she wanted to be ready, it would make her feel better.

The female ghoul was already wearing her long black coat and her black leather boots and at this moment she was cleaning the dust from her old rabbit mask. She hadn't used her mask since the anteiku raid, like Kaneki Touka had also been keep her head down for all these years but tonight was going to be different. She knew Kaneki was going to the auction, Hinami had called her about it and there was no way she was letting that idiot go off on his own…again.

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do?" Chie said, she sat across from Touka on the living room sofa.

"No, just stay here" Touka said seriously it was almost like an order "I already have Kaneki to worry about I don't need you adding to that list"

"Understood" Chie said almost sulky, Touka didn't understand the mousy woman sometimes so she decided not to question it. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall the hands were point to five past six and she just wished that nine o clock would come already.

Xxx

Back at the house Kaneki, Hide and Hinami exchanged very little words as if there was some unspoken rule of silence that had washed over them, the house was not as cheery as it usually was. It was to a point were Hinami could stand it anymore and locked herself in her bedroom to go over her equipment she was going to need. The younger female ghoul had a plan to get into the auction, she was going to disguise as an Aogiri Tree member. The costume had been stolen from Aogiri four years ago when they planned to save Kaneki from Jason's clutches lay on her bed, she had grown taller since then but it still fit on her ok and she had also kept the mask, she ensured that the tracker device was safely attached to her mask.

The only other person who knew about Hinami's plan was Hide, she didn't tell Touka since she knew the otlder ghoul would try to talk her out of it and worry about her and Hinami didn't need that. She knew what she was going to do will be dangerous but it was best option she had, it was better than sitting down and doing nothing.

In the next room Kaneki was getting changed, he didn't plan to tell Hinami and Hide when or where he was going, he left a note on the bed explaining everything and ordering them not to follow him just in case they came into his room and found him missing but Kaneki had the feeling that his house mates already knew where he was going. He couldn't remember the last time the household had been so tense.

At this moment Kaneki had changed into his nicest black turtleneck, black dinner pants, boots and a black striped dinner jacket which was really expensive and he bet it was going to get ruined once the raid started but he didn't have a choice, he had to look the part, like those rich celebrity ghouls.

He tried to remember all his past experiences when dealing with ghoul restaurants. All those sabotages had gone really well but this was different, now it was a bigger event, the ghoul auction. The CCG were coming and this time Kaneki would be a part of the audience and not on the stage.

He took out both his masks he put on the first mask and his favourite, the black eyepatch one. He was excited, he hadn't worn this mask in years if only he had the chance to take it to Uta to get it checked out. He was very careful putting on the mask, worried that it would break due to age but he needn't had worried, the mask slipped on perfectly. He adjusted it then put his clown mask into his jacket pocket, the clown mask stood out in the dark too much so he will put it on over his other mask once he got into the college.

He took the folded invitation and put in in his pocket, he didn't need to be there until around 9 when he had to go through the side doors with the other ghouls and into the college hall. Now he wondered how the Madams were planning to pull this off, surely the humans passing by would notice the college still open with all the lights on and that. But he supposed he would find out soon enough, he looked at his watch and it read 7:30. He was early but he decided it was best to hang about outside the college for a while to watch for CCG vans or for any other ghouls.

Kaneki opened he window wide, looked back at his room checking if the note was still in place and then slipped out into the night.

Meanwhile down stairs, Hide was sitting at the dinner table picking at his dinner not feeling very hungry. He jumped when his laptop beeped which was sitting on the coffee table, Hide was surprised since it wasn't meant to beep unless one of his trackers left the house. He jumped up and picked up the laptop to see Kaneki's red dot moving away from the house, he was earlier than expected but that was no problem.

"Hinami!" Hide called and the heard the footsteps of the female ghoul run down the stairs to meet Hide "He's moving" Hide told her "I think he's going earlier to check on what's going on, you might want to start getting ready".

Xxx

Mutsuki was dressed and had already called for a taxi. It was annoying how he had to get a taxi to drive him to the edge of town where Suzuya would be waiting for Nutcracker and if his plan worked he would be driving back to this part of town where the auction was. He knew this plan had a lot of falls and could easily go wrong but it was the best he could come up with and he just had to hope for the best and hoped that Suzuya would go through with the CCG's plan.

Mutsuki checked his refection in the mirror for the tenth time since calling the taxi. He wore a plain white dress which would stand out in the dark and a plain black jacket to keep out the cold. On his feet he wore black slip-ons so he could run easily and hid his quinque knifes in straps under his dress.

He was checking if he put is make up on right until he heard the loud pinging noise of his phone saying his taxi had come. Mutsuki shivered and wondered for the hundredth time if this was a good idea seriously that noise on his phone felt like it calling for his death sentence but he had to push back his fear. He couldn't sit waiting here to see if his friends would come back alive, this method was the only way he could get into the auction without arousing suspicion so he took a deep breath and leaving his 'walk sticks' where they were he took his keys, locked the door and ran down the stairs where his taxi was waiting.

Xxx

The taxi drive was only less than ten minutes long but it felt like hours to Mutsuki, he wasn't afraid of going in taxies it's not like he could assume that every taxi driver he sees is a ghoul but he still felt his palm go sweaty.

He asked the driver to stop outside some tacky cheap hotel that looked like it was going out of business. The driver took Mutsuki's money without question and set off leaving Mutsuki on the pavement.

He knew the number plate of Nutcrackers car (he heard the number from Mado when she was talking to the others) and the place where Suzuya would be meeting her. Looking up the place where Suzuya would wait on Google maps and checking all the roads and streets the most possible road Nutcracker would come down would be the Mutsuki was standing in now. It was about a couple of miles away where Suzuya would be. He checked the time and it was about twenty to eight and Suzuya was being picked up at eight but you never know, Nutcracker could come early so he waited thanking whatever god was up there that its wasn't cold and not too dark.

He waited for five minutes, it was a quiet lane with not to many cars which was a good thing. He kept looking at the number plates and was looking out for a black Astra car. He waited for another five minutes until he saw the car he was looking for come this way towards Mutsuki. There was no backing out now, this was his only chance, he waved at the car as it came closer he could see the woman he saw in the photograph of Nutcracker.

Mutsuki couldn't help but smile when the car slowed down and pulled to a stop, an attractive young woman rolled down her window and looked up at Mutsuki with a curious look. It wasn't the normal confused look you do when you are stopped by someone and you want to know what's wrong and how to help but instead it was the type of look when you are wondering what that person would taste like and if they we're chewy enough. Yeah that look.

It put Mutsuki on edge.

"Emm I'm sorry to bother you" Mutsuki said he could hear the stutter in his voice "But I'm kind of lost, I'm looking for the collage my friends said it was down here?" The woman laughed, it wasn't an unkind laugh but the laugh you would give a child who said a silly thing.

"Then I'm afraid you're very lost" The woman said as she pushed her black hair from her shoulders "And you haven't got very good friends either, it's in the middle of town quite far from here".

Mutsuki gave the woman a depressed look, Mutsuki just hoped it was convincing enough for Nutcracker.

"How could they!" He said making sure but the betrayal in his voice "They just left here alone!"

"That's so horrible for you" The Nutcracker ghoul said with sadness in her voice that sounded fake to Mutsuki's ears "How about I give you a lift home? It would be no trouble"

"Are you sure?" Mutsuki asked, this was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Of course" Nutcracker smiled showing her blacked dyed teeth "Just hop in the back seat and I will take you home" Mutsuki smiled and opened the back door and he just realized that Nutcracker hasn't asked him where he lived but he didn't comment on it. He knew that gleam in Nutcrackers eyes was the look of happiness that she has a new victim. Again the car drove off and Mutsuki could guess where, first phase of the plan was complete now all he had to do was deal with Suzuya.

Xxx

Kaneki had been surveying the collage for the past half hour, he had already seen a few ghouls come in and out of the collage already but he supposed that they were helpers to get everything set up. It was then he started to wonder how they were going to get their captured humans into the building and where would they keep them? At the moment it seemed that the helpers where carrying sheets, cushions and some pieces of wood that looked like it was going to be used for scenery.

He looked at his watch and the time was eight o clock, he knew it wouldn't be long until Aogiri Tree members will start pouring in. He knew that some of them were in charge of guarding Big Madam but a lot of them will be guarding the auction as a whole and soon enough a large van was pulled though into the car park and dark figures wearing blood red cloaks and bronze coloured masks stepped out of the van one by one. Just seeing that uniform made Kaneki shiver with bad memories. Kaneki could count around ten to fifteen in all and then the van drove back, gone to get the next batch maybe?

On the roof where Kaneki was hiding he flattened himself to the floor thankful his hair wasn't white anymore. Aogiri was full of skilled members he supposed one of them would have a skilled nose or eyes but if anyone noticed him they didn't point it out.

The van never came back and by half eight a few cars started to park outside, one car even went down the back of the college but he didn't bother to follow it. He could see that now some of the guests where walking into the college and he thought that now was the time. He jumped of the roof and slipped on his clown mask, checked that his invitation was still in his pocket he made his was casually towards the side of the collage where all the ghouls have been entering.

Xxx

Mutsuki was looking out the window when he suddenly felt the car slow down and he saw a figure of a girl standing there by the road but Mutsuki knew better.

"I just need to pick up my friend then we will get going" Nutcracker said keeping her eyes on the road, Mutsuki nodded even though he knew that the ghoul wouldn't be able to see him.

The car stopped and Nutcracker rolled down her window, "Hello daring I hope you weren't wait too long?"

"Oh no I only just got here" he heard the familiar voice of Suzuya say, Mutsuki could see Suzuya in the same disguise as last time in the long black wig, short dress and make up. Suzuya looked up towards the back seat, Mutsuki could see his dark large eyes widen in shock and Nutcracker looked back to where Suzuya was looking.

"Oh I found this girl standing alone on the street" Nutcracker said "We are taking her home, it's not a problem is it?"

"Oh no" Suzuya said with a shake of his head and a forced smile "No problem at all…"

Somewhere hiding in the bushes watching the scene an investigator spoke though a walkie-talkie "Suzuya's going in" He said "There seems to be another person in the back seat but I can't make out who it is".

"Must be another hostage" Akira said on the other end of the device "Just follow them" Hanbee nodded but then realised that Akira wouldn't be able to see

"Understood" He said before closing the device.

Xxx

Suzuya and Mutsuki sat quietly side by side, Suzuya kept glancing at Mutsuki trying to make eye contact while Mutsuki himself kept his eyes on his lap. It seems that the plan was working after all.

They were now driving further into the town when suddenly Mutsuki's nose twitched as some foul smelling odour was creeping into the car he and Suzuya started to cough and his vision became blurry. Out of the haze Mutsuki could just make out Nutcracker in the front seat turning to face her prey as she tightened the gas mask around her face.

Mutsuki tried to call out Suzuya's name but he couldn't even hear his own voice and suddenly everything faded into a misty black.

Xxx

Kaneki showed his invitation to the ghoul guarding the door, once he saw it he nodded and passed Kaneki a catalogue and let the ghoul go though. If Kaneki hadn't been to this hall a hundred times already he would have been impressed, the hall was enormous and it could fit rows and rows of people and there was a nice sized stage in front. You could just about fit half the town or more and as Kaneki expected there were already quite a few ghouls attending the auction already and he was sure more would be coming soon.

While searching for his seat he could hear the ghoul's chattering among themselves, all of them were masked like himself but going by the conversations he could tell that some of them were business men going on about their financial trouble and Kaneki couldn't help but think why they would throw away their money here?

But most of them were talking about the Doves being sighted around town and expressing their nervousness and again Kaneki couldn't help but think why they came in the first place if they were that scared of dove. And others where going through the catalogue and talking about which ones they are going to bid on.

To be honest it wasn't much different than a ghoul restaurant, only the ghouls were even more stupid and rich than usual.

As Tsukiyama had promised Kaneki found himself sitting on one of the good seats right at the front of the stage and at the top row where he had a good view and were he was also sitting next to Kanae. But to Kaneki's surprise as he got closer he recognised the woman who was in one of the pictures Chie had showed him few days ago even though she was wearing a mask, he recognised her as _Matsumae._

"Nice seats we have here, aren't they?" Kaneki said cheery and but tried to keep it cool like an upper class ghoul, he didn't want to scare these two away after all. Kanae looked over to him as did Matsumae, even though Kaneki had only met the Rosewald ghoul once he still recognised the floppy purple hair, the eyes that looked down on you like you were scum and his mask didn't do every well to hide the shape of his face.

"Yes" Kanae nodded as Kaneki sat down beside him, Kaneki then began to wonder if the German ghoul could smell the strange ghoul/human scent on him but there must have been so many ghouls around and since the room would smell of the humans who have used it last that Ken Kaneki's half-ghoul scent went unnoticed.

Although Kaneki noticed Kanae staring of somewhere in the distance, there were a lot of red hooded figures of Aogiri Tree around but there seemed to be a lot down below Kaneki. It was then that the half-ghoul had to do a double-take and was surprised that he didn't notice it before.

At the bottom seat was probably the hugest person Kaneki had ever seen, it was Big Madam and she was guarded by Aogiri members. Kaneki was sure that Big Madam had grown fatter than the last time he her, he had seen her a few times while raiding ghoul restaurants when he lived in Tokyo but he never managed to get a hold of her (no matter how big she was).

It was then the main lights turned off and show lights switched on illumining the stage and suddenly the whole room went quiet and only the loud voice of Big Madam could be heard across the room.

"I'm pumped!" She explained with excitement in her voice "I hope there's a hot boy I like, c'mon my new human slave!"

Suddenly the show lights moved to two figures entering the stage, one was really huge and the other was small and skinny who Kaneki recognised the small one as Roma wearing some mouse like mask while Kaneki had never seen the big one in his life.

Now Kaneki couldn't say that he had been to many shows, the last one he had seen was when he went to high school and the Drama students were giving a performance and he found it boring. So Kaneki couldn't help but be impressed by the clown's silly act but he wasn't laughing along with the audience, this wasn't his type of thing.

Suddenly while the two were acting a small object, from Kaneki's view looked like an eyeballs came down along with a rope, the large male clown pulled on the rope then a larger object came down from the ceiling making the audience gasp. Kaneki studied the house and found it quite big to be used as a simple prop. It had bricks painted on and scenery windows were attached none to neatly and he could also see stairs traveling along the house and were the door should be were curtains and he wondered who was behind them.

The clowns stood back in fake shock as lights came off them and shone towards the house making the rest of the room look dark.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" A male voice called out, it was coming from the house and Kaneki felt like he had heard that voice before "Now the moment you've all been waiting for! Numerous rare and famous goods gather in this auction, humans, humans, humans… This is the special human auction for the ghoul world!"

The audience stared to shift excitedly in their seats, leaning forward to get a better look at the stage. The speaker continued,

"Please be wary of the doves on your way home. We don't want you to end up like the goods you've boxed!" Suddenly the curtains started to open and shadowy shape appeared, Kaneki tried to get a good look he was sure he had heard this voice before. "And now, let's finally start with introductions, here are your hosts as well as auctioneers…"

The figure stepped out and Kaneki's eyes widened in shock and disbelieve, he thought for a second that his heart had stopped. Even though the host was wearing a mask Kaneki was good at seeing the face behind it. The tattoo on his neck gave it away.

"We, are the clowns!" The host explained "And please everyone, enjoy the auction to your hearts content!"

Uta….

 **Note: I do not take credit for Uta's speech at the end of this chapter, you can find it on TG:Re on chapter 17. By the way some of the speech in the next few chapters will be from the manga.**

 **Wow, I'm quite proud of this chapter I think its starts of the auction quite well. Oh and I should say that the clown mask Kaneki wears is the same mask he wears in the oneshot.**

 **I would like to thank the flowering reviewer's , xXred-sky-dosyXx, Flowering Lotus and Guest (sorry I can't reply to guest reviews) let's try to get it to 50 review! LOL**

 **Oh and I'm still looking for a Beta give anyone is interested**


	15. Auction Arc: Eyes

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 15: Eyes**

Mutsuki eyes fluttered open, everything was still in a hazy black and his mind was still shrouded in mist. Then in panic Mutsuki shot himself up the haze was gone and he found himself alone. The green haired investigator took beep breathes hoping to calm himself, as a ghoul investigator he couldn't panic like this so he took in is surroundings. He was in a box shaped like room with the floors and walls made of solid metal which was cold on his skin.

Perhaps he was in a box, Mutsuki thought as he tried to remember what he did last. He remembered going into Nutcrackers car and wasn't Suzuya there too? No, he came later. The two investigators drove in the back seat and then the gas...It was all coming back to Mutsuki now, the gas must of knocked him and Suzuya out and they must have been taken here? Wherever here is….

Mutsuki wondered is Suzuya would know where he was and was coming looking for him? Or more likely Suzuya was in the same predicament as him. Mutsuki sighed in frustration, if only he had planned ahead! Mutsuki didn't know what was going to happen once he and Suzuya were in Nutcrackers car but being gassed and put into a large metal box wasn't what Mutsuki imagined. He expected that he and Suzuya would have to fight alongside once Nutcracker made the move, oh how foolish he was.

The investigator put his hands to his leg were the knife's were strapped around and was relieved to find that they were still there. Suddenly Mutsuki could hear a bang of a door opening and footsteps belonging to high heels sounded across the floor then he heard the familiar voice of Nutcracker call,

"Carry that one!" And she heard the box on his left being carried by the sound of large heavy footsteps which were walking further and further away, Mutsuki shivered in thought of what was going to happen to him.

Xxx

Kaneki watched the show in utter helplessness and despair and also with confusion. What was Uta doing on the stage hosting the auction? He wasn't with the clowns was he? Was he the spy? Kaneki didn't have much time to ponder on Uta's betrayal when the first human was sent out onto the stage.

It was the soup actor who had gone missing last week, Kaneki watched the scene miserably was as the large clown pulled the actor out of the house. The poor man looked like he hadn't seen sunlight in a week (Which he probably hadn't) it was probably due to fear as well and he didn't look to well fed either but it seems that the auction organizers tried to smarten him up with a dress suit and bowtie but he still looked awful. But of course his looks wouldn't matter, he was famous after all and crowd was getting excited.

"I present you the first item" Uta said calmly oblivious to the man's cries and pleas for help "This item is the actor Yoshiki Okura!"

"Known for starring in the Drama 'Brainball'" Roma said taking over though the mic, she sounded so cheerful that Kaneki felt the aching need to rip he throat out and cursed himself for not dealing with her sooner "Is there anyone present who is moved by his acting, please take a good look everyone!"

Suddenly quite a few ghouls lifted their number plate things (Kaneki couldn't think of the name of them), the starting price was at ten million and it was going up to 11 million and 400 thousand to 11 million and 600 thousand to 14 million, 18 million the crowd was in an excited frenzy and Kaneki felt himself feeling sicker maybe it was heat, he was wearing two masks after all. The half-ghoul looked over towards Kanae who was sitting there quietly unlike a crowd he looked rather bored as did _Matsumae._

 _"Not a fan of dramas hey?" Kaneki asked, risking the question he wanted to know Kanae a little better while he here disguised, Kanae answered with a shake of his head,_

 _"Hmph…as if a declining actor like him is worth anything…"_

 _"Yeah" Kaneki nodded feeling uncomfortable "But it's easy to put a high price on entertainers and celebrities…"_ Kanae nodded in agreement while _Matsumae stared at the clown masked ghoul with stoic interest. Suddenly the voice of Uta called out,_

 _"At present there's a bidding war between number 33 and number 1" Kaneki took a closer look and he could see that the two numbers where on the bottom seats, the only ghouls with their boards up where Big Madam and the man who Kaneki saw the photograph of, it was Shuu's father Mirumo Tsukiyama._

 _Looking at the man now Kaneki could believe that this was Tsukiyama's father with such purple hair and the colourful floret clothing, there were the kind of clothes that Kaneki could expect Shuu to wear once he grew older he was sure that the two had the same personality as well. Now that his attention was on Shuu's father he now watched the auction with interest, the price went up to 24 million, 34 million, 30 million and it seems that the 'Croque Monsieur' won._

 _It was then Kaneki wondered if the Tsukiyama family knew that one of their own helped Kaneki raid ghoul restaurants, Kaneki didn't know and suddenly felt guilty for not asking Shuu about his family before yet it's not like Kaneki has ever told Shuu about his own family anyway. And with an unsettling thought he wondered how much Kaneki himself would be if it was him on the auction stage? He watched with dismay as the crying actor was pulled of the stage and dragged back to where he came from, probably packing him up in a box for Mirumo to take home like an object._

 _Kaneki wondered were the CCG were and why had they come yet?_

 _Xxx_

 _Somewhere in the auction crowd amount the many red hooded figures on guard one female ghoul wasn't doing her job, well not the job the others red hoods were doing the person she was watching out for was her onii-chan. Hinami stood on the behind watching her onii-chan's back as she leaned against the wall. She knew it was him despite the mix of smells of humans and ghouls she could always pin point Kaneki's scent._

 _The female watched as the actor got dragged away, after that the next few were just ordinary young woman who didn't deserve to be in this mess. It was hard to watch so she decided to do what some of the other Aogiri members were doing, walk around. She kept her head down and decided to walk down the stairs opposite her onii-chan, he shouldn't smell her at this distance._

 _While walking down a somewhat familiar smell went through Hinami nose, she turned her head slightly to the smell and it seemed to be coming from Big Madams body guards. The group was hidden against the darkness of the wall, she could walk past them or go back up the stairs or she could stay in the middle? She chose the latter and leaned against the wall so she too was hidden by darkness._

 _Like what she did in the college Hinami closed her eyes and focused her hearing on the group with the familiar scent and concentrated on the sound. It wasn't easy and a lot harder than last time since the room was full of excited chatter and the cries and pleas from the humans captured only made things worse but Hinami was able to block it out and tried to pinpoint the sound she wanted but suddenly and shiver went through her distracting her from her target,_ _something felt kinda off…_

Suddenly the voice of the host met her ears "Well then I shall once again introduce the quickly restocked items" He said and Hinami wondered what he meant by that "This isn't printed in the catalogue you're holding" Hinami looked up and saw a girl with dark skin and green hair being kicked out of the house onto the stage, well she thought she was a girl but yet despite the white dress and make up she recognised the person, even though they had only met once. It was Mutsuki.

Meanwhile somewhere up in the audience a certain clown masked half ghoul couldn't help but stare in disbelieve and fear shot though him like an electric shock, surely the CCG weren't low enough to put a young and inexperienced adult like Mutsuki in such predicament? Not only that but Mutsuki wearing such a white dress and the hair styled and with the spotlight shinning on him, he looked very much like the person he saw in his dreams only days before?

"We start at one million" The host said "Is what I'd like to say but…" There was dramatic pause and Kaneki wondered what the hell Uta had in mind as he strolled up to the victim twisting his stick in his hand. He could see the fear and horror written on Mutsuki's face and Kaneki was suddenly glad he had come, he didn't think for a second that his new students would participate in the auction raid.

Uta was now face level with Mutsuki, he gave the investigator a sniff "But this one is very different" Suddenly to Kaneki's repulsion Uta dragged Mutsuki up by the shoulder and lifted up part of his dress so the whole of Mutsuki's leg right up to the hip was all to see but Kaneki and all the other ghouls noticed something was strapped to his leg. Mutsuki was flushed with embarrassment as the host pulled out one of the items strapped to her leg, he held the objects for all to see and it appeared to be a set is knives, a quinque knives.

"Now why would a mere human have one of these in her procession?" Uta asked dropping Mutsuki back to the ground who put his hands in his face in shame "Unless she was a CCG investigator?"

If the crowd wasn't in a frenzy before then they certainly were now. While some were whispering fearfully to themselves other were jeering and hissing and Kaneki could do nothing but sit there in shock and feel useless, there was no way he could save Mutsuki at this moment no with all these ghouls and with no back-up he had to wait until the CCG came though those doors then he could act though the chaos, but what he was going to do he wasn't too sure. He couldn't see Torso so save Mutsuki maybe?

He wondered what the CCG were thinking and for once was hoping they would come soon, before things got worse. If that made sense.

"Yes, yes a ghoul investigator in our auction!" Uta said over the noise and the crowd began to quieten down "This time ever we have had a Dove being welcomed onto our spotlight, since this is such an rare advent and I'm sure a lot of you would like to take out you're revenge for your friends and loved ones for having a Dove as a pet so we start the price at ten million!"

Kaneki watched waiting for something to happen like the CCG to burst through the door at any moment, the prices kept going up Mutsuki was now at 20 million.

Down below where Hinami and Madam's body guards wear Torso was getting excited "Ayato what should I do?" The older ghoul asked the stronger and younger ghoul "Can I participate as well?" Ayato just gave him a look of disbelieve

"Huh?!" He explained "What nonsense are you-!" Hinami didn't hear the rest, so down there in the group of bodyguards was Ayato? Touka's Ayato? Is that why he smelt familiar because he was related Touka? She wondered who the other ghoul was though, the ghoul who seemed really interested in Mutsuki. She would have to keep an eye on him.

Xxx

While all this was going on in the audience, Mutsuki sat alone on the stage in the blinding spotlight with fear and despair crawling over him like a hungry beast. His knifes had been taken from him and all he could do was sit there with his hands on his lap listening to the numbers go up from 25 million, 27 million, 30 million thinking about what he could do? What's going to happen to him? How did they figure out his identity? He was scared, he wanted Suzuya to save him, he wanted to be useful, he wanted to fight…here with his squad but yet he felt so weak. He clenched his fists tighter and closed his eyes praying all this to be a bad dream or that the CCG had realized what Mutsuki had done.

Mutsuki's body then froze when he felt the hosts hand on his shoulder

Xxx

Back in the audience Kaneki was surprised to see Kanae put up his board, the price was now at one hundred million! And again it was now a one on one fight with Big Madam only now Kanae was the opponent.

Big Madam was now standing with a grin stretched along her chubby face "It's only expected that I'd want a human pet as rare as this one!" The large ghoul called out "So well made too!" The price was now at one hundred twenty million. This time Madam wasn't holding back and neither was Kanae the prize now, to Kaneki's astonishment was two hundred and twenty million! I mean who that that much money to go to waste? Kaneki couldn't help but think why these two would want to spend so much on an investigator? They must really want revenge on the CCG but Kaneki couldn't help but think that something was wrong in all this where the hell where the CCG?

In the end it was Big Madam who'd won and Mutsuki was pulled away from the stage trembling and Kaneki felt the same, he felt so useless…

Xxx

Back at the house Hide sat on his favourite seat on the sofa with his laptop open with his tracking software up on the coffee table for what felt like hours. He had been watching the dotes, red for Kaneki and blue for Hinami. At this moment to two seemed to be in the college hall but he doubted that Kaneki knew of her existence yet. Hide kept taking sips of the bitter coffee waiting in anticipation for something to happen like for one of the dotes to move. It was now quarter to ten and it seemed that the CCG hadn't raided the auction yet, maybe they had a plan or something?

At this moment Hide wished he knew what was going on, it wasn't enough to know where his friends were he wanted to know what they could see and what they could hear so he knew what was going on. If only he had the tracking device's which would let you listen though then that would help. No. He shook his head at that thought, he wasn't going there again…

No, this was enough. He didn't have to listen to anything, if there was any unusual movement with the dotes then he can go there and help. He didn't want to listen to Kaneki in pain anymore.

Lucky his head was pulled out from dark thoughts and memories by a knocking on his door. Who could that be? He wondered and got and moved towards the door hesitantly, with all the ghouls around for the auction and with the CCG about he couldn't be too careful.

"Who is it?" Hide called out from behind the door but he relaxed when he heard the familiar mouse like voice of a woman.

"It's me, Chie silly!" Chie said though the door "Are you going to let me in or are you going to hide behind the door?" Hide sighed and unlocked the door and opened it wide for Chie to come bouncing though.

"Chie what are you doing here?" Hide asked as he quickly locked the door "Shouldn't you be at home with Touka? I mean with all those ghouls about…"

"I wouldn't worry" Chie said laughing it off "All the ghouls came all this way for the auction they wouldn't miss it!" Chie explained "I wish I was there though, it's so boring at the house and its torture not knowing anything".

"Yeah I get what you mean" Hide said sadly trying to keep the smile on his face "I have placed a tracking device on Kaneki's mask and Hinami as well at his moment they are both in the college hall but I still don't understand what's going on…"

"Wait!" Chie interrupted the male human "What's Hinami doing there?"

"She disguised as an Aogiri Tree member" Hide explained, he walked Chie up to the coffee table and pointed to the laptop screen "The red dot is Kaneki and the blue is Hinami, Hinami is keep watch on Kaneki to make sure he comes back safely".

"Wow I didn't know that" Chie said touching her chin in thought as her eyes stared up at the ceiling in a cartoon way "It seems Kaneki really attracts girl bodyguards…"

"What do you mean by that" Hide asked with raised eyebrows.

"I mean Touka-chan has gone to the auction as well" Chie explained "Well outside the auction really, she won't butt in until the CCG have made their move"

"What!" Hide gasped turning the small woman to face him, he felt the panic boiling into him "What do you mean Touka is at the auction? Isn't that dangerous? There are probably like hundreds of the CCG investigators outside the college at this moment what if they spot her?"

"I don't think Touka is stupid enough to die" Chie said pulling herself away blond man and made herself comfortable on his sofa "You should be happy, the more watchers Kaneki's got the better!".

But Hide wasn't happy at all, he should off known Touka would try to pull something off. She knew Kaneki well enough to know he was going to the auction and being the rash and caring girl she was she wouldn't want Kaneki hurt or doing things on his own, so really in the end Touka was no different from Kaneki…

Xxx

"The merchandise will be delivered later, please head over to the reception" Uta explained though the microphone once everyone in the auction room had settled down, Kaneki could help but cringe at Uta's words the way he said it was like the humans were just objects that could be ordered and packaged on your doorstep like an amazon delivery.

After a short minute break with the audience discussing the seriousness of the last bidding war Kanae was slouched with his face in his hands looking defeated and Kaneki couldn't help but smile under his two masks. He knew he shouldn't be happy since Mutsuki now belonged to Big Madam but seeing Kanae look like that over the simple bidding war was pitiful.

"Don't worry Kanae" Matsumae said even though she hadn't spoken much "Let's do our best with the next one" Kaneki ignored them, it looked like the next victim was being sent out.

"This one was also not listed in the catalogue" Uta said as he leaned forward with his hands pressed against the table in the middle of the stage "I introduce to you another highly priced item, an incredibly beautiful girl" Kaneki watched as the curtains started to open reviling the sinister dark shape of a girl in a black frilly dress and large dark eyes with skin like porcelain, she looked just like a doll and she was also very familiar. Kaneki's senses were now on high alert, he felt something was going to happen.

"The starting price will be…"

"There is no need for that" The girl said interrupting the host, her voice was sharp and blunt and cut through the air like a knife. The girl licked her lips and ran her nails down her bare leg and suddenly to Kaneki's astonishment the bottom of the leg that came up to the knee fell of and revealed long sliver like blades.

The moment was so fast that Kaneki didn't have time to see the supposed girl take the knives and stab them inside the holes Uta's mask. The ghoul fell back and already everyone had gotten over the shock and were rushing out there seats scrambling to the door. Kaneki watched as Kanae and Matsumae got from their seats rushing past him but the half-ghoul stayed where he was running would not help, it's not what he was here to do so he stayed seated making himself small as the attacker was already on the audience with both legs and using her or his knifes to make the runaway ghouls blood decorate the floor.

Xxx

Meanwhile outside the college Touka watched the scene up the a large oak tree as the vans of CCG and their investigators stood ready and waiting, weapons gripped tightly and formations were set. Touka's heart thumped in her chest awaiting the CCG to make their move, what they hell where they waiting for?

Down below Urie and Shirazu stood beside Mado in tense silence while Saiko stood behind them gripping her quinque case like she wasn't sure what to do with it and she was wishing she was with Mutsuki right now, at home in the warmth and TV.

"Remember that Big Madam's group has hired bodyguards from Aogiri Tree" Mado explained to the small group "So you might be up against some dangerous ghouls so if don't feel like you can win there is no shame in running away, got it?"

"Yep" Shirazu said nodded.

"All right" Urie said not really listening to the 'safety course'

"Can I run away now?" Saiko asked quietly, she was ignored.

"You don't think Suzuya will be pissing his pants scared right now, don't you think haha" Said Shirazu trying to break the tense silence with a joke, he just couldn't stand the tension of these things.

"Well then we will have to save him before he does" Akira said trying to hide the smile from her face.

Urie ignored them and turned to face the building, this was it! The prefect opportunity to obtain that sweet Olive award, he had to do it before the other squads steal the achievements.

Suddenly the voice the commander Washuu sounded though everyone's ear pieces making the group jump on high alert.

"Announcement for everyone, we're going over today's mission objectives again" He said as the commander sat back in his chair in front the computer screens on his desk as he sat safely inside one of the offices in the town hall away from the commotion "Mission 1 is the extermination of the ghouls inside in particular Big Madam, finish her". The investigators couldn't help but nod at the bluntness of his words. "It's also been confirmed that Aogiri Tree will intervene, don't let this chance slip"

Some of the investigators couldn't help but gulp in nervousness, Washuu carried on,

"Mission 2 is to rescue the civilians, there's a high chance that the civilians captured as merchandise for the auction are present, this is our highest priority, during the operation judge appropriately in response to the situation, that's all"

Washuu sighed leaning back on his chair and pushed his glasses up in place, of course that was what a commander would have to say or things could get ugly later, although in Washuu's hidden mind set the elimination of Big Madam was the most important…

Suddenly Washuu in interrupted by his thoughts when a loud beeping noise sounded though the device on the table that was the sound his had been waiting for! He turned if off as took up the speaker device again and spoke to all the investigators outside the college,

"We've confirmed associate special class Suzuya's signal" He said _**"Begin the Operation"**_

Xxx

Back in the auction hall Suzuya was making enough destruction on his own without including the rest of the CCG Doves. Aogiri Tree members were scattered among themselves Hinami was keeping her head down and staying the shadows watching her brother who was making himself small in his seat like a sensible person.

Downstairs Ayato and his group were staying put, like Kaneki Ayato wasn't one to panic like the other stupid ghouls. He was trying to analyse the situation but to his despair it looked like the troops were concentrated on the front and the sides so basically they were surrounded.

He turned towards his group who had been watching and awaiting Ayato to give orders and now Ayato was ready to give them,

"Naki and Miza, work together to create a hole" The rabbit ghoul ordered as he got ready to jump "I will guard Big Madam!" And with that the ghoul jumped onto the stage,

"Wait Ayato!" The fearful voice of Saeki called out, the pale ghoul was wide eyes and trembling clutching his mask tighter to his face "W-w-what should I do?!"

"Saeki, you will come with me!" The rabbit ghoul ordered, he didn't wait to see if the Torso ghoul would obey, Madam was taken away by her 'friends' and Ayato now stood in front of Suzuya with his Kagune at the ready with the investigators large dark eyes on him.

Xxx

Meanwhile somewhere Kanae and Matsumae had found refuge in one of the college's storage rooms, it was the room where they kept all the PE equipment like balls, basket ball hoops, hooky sticks eta.

"Kanae?" Matsumae asked seeing the German ghoul in a deep thought process, he put his hands to his chin in thought, thinking about the girl he lost to Big Madam, maybe if he were to take advantage of this mess…No! Only those of lowly birth steal but still that investigator on the stage shivering with fear like an ordinary human, he couldn't explain it but there was something about that girl he must have.

"Matsumae!" Kanae ordered turning to the female ghoul with a looked of crazed hidden behind his mask! I have business to take care of!"

Xxx

"Attention to all the ghouls inside" The loud voice of male broke thought the college speakers sounding thought the hall and down the corridors "We have you completely surrounded. Do not resist, or we will mercilessly exterminate all of you, please surrender peacefully!"

"Surrender?" Kaneki mumbled to himself with an eye roll "Like that is ever going to happen in a life time" He needed to get out of here while that knife throwing investigator had her or his attention on Ayato, it seemed that Kaneki had a good talent of recognising the face behind the mask or maybe it was the Kagune and the fighting style that gave it away.

He couldn't stay a sitting duck forever or eventually an investigator would find him, he could see that some of Ayato's group had created a hole high in the ceiling as an escape route that would help him climb onto the lower roof, he could use that he could get out and find Mutsuki but he also needed to find Torso he was sure he had heard Ayato say his name telling him to stay with him but yet Kaneki couldn't see him, maybe he ran off. The coward.

The half ghoul slowly got up and made his way along the seats and up to the hole keeping an eye on the fight between Ayato and the investigator and he couldn't help but be impressed, it seemed that the Black Rabbit had grown stronger than last time as the investigator elegantly tossed endless knifes towards him and Ayato dodged them jumping over seats like a rabbit leaping away from the predator. This only made Kaneki move faster, he couldn't avoided ether the ghoul or investigator to see him.

Finally he jumped onto the edge of the hole, he turned back only to see that Ayato had left though the main doors leaving the room in a puff of dust and smoke, Kaneki leapt away before that strong investigator realized that he was there.

Xxx

Touka now stood on the highest roof of the building looking down where the college hall was with its lower roof, she knew the auction hall was now being raided when some Aogiri Tree members made a huge whole in the wall and climb onto the roof. He had considered killing them until she realized that Naki was there but she didn't have to wait long until he broke a window to the second floor and jump out excitedly probably ready to kill some investigators.

She waited for a minute to see if the Aogiri members would come back until another figure stepped out the hole, this one wore a clown mask. She watched as his one looked back the scene for a second and jump up onto the lower roof and take of the clown mask to reveal a more familiar mask, it was Kaneki.

She stepped back and flattened herself on the floor so the half-ghoul wouldn't notice, she watched as he tucked the clown mask back in his pocket and adjust his eyepatch mask as he looked across to the horizon where the sky had now turned dark and full of grey clouds looming over the town, she slivered the ominous wind rushed through her and she saw Kaneki turn towards the broken window and rushing though back inside the building.

"You never making this easy do you Kaneki?" The female ghoul said to herself as she jumped down onto the lower roof where Kaneki was and went through the broken windows hoping to catch up with the half-ghoul.

 **To be honest I'm not too happy how I wrote this chapter it seems too jumpy and back and forth between settings and characters but this was more like an opening showing what the character are going to do now. I promise the next one will be less jumpy and if I have the time I might end up splitting chapters like for example the next chapter I might concentrate on Mutsuki, CCG and Touka while the chapter after that might concentrate on Kaneki, Hinami and Aogiri.**

 **Oh and poor Hinami she's still stuck in the auction hall LOL As you might have guessed this auction raid is going to go down differently than it does in TG: RE I'm not going to include all the fight scenes only the ones which have importance to this fanfic and I'm going to make some up as well.**

 **I would like to thank those who have followed we now have over 60 followers! Wow and they are only the people who have a fanfic account…**

 **And thanks to the following reviewers Guest, nissangtrlover2569, and Flowering Lotus we have 51 reviews let's get them to 61 to match the number of followers :D**


	16. Auction Arc: Assault

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 16: Assault**

Back at the now quiet and lonely apartment block on the edge of town Eto sat there on a pile of cushions with monitors surrounding her each showing bits of the college while the raid was still ongoing. It hadn't been hard to hack into the CVT cameras, the security in this town was so lax it was laughable. The scenes played out on the old screens that the Doctor had given her where the only light in the room, scenes of murder and panicked ghouls filled the screens she looked over them and it seemed that the battle was getting pretty heated, maybe it was time to realise the Owl?

"Oh Takizawa!" she called out cheerfully turning towards the shadows where a figure sat hunched wrapped in long black robes. His white hair hung messily over his sunken in face which had hadn't seen sun light in years. He chewed desperately on his skinny black nailed figures and his eyes where wide and hunting, one eye normal brown coloured and one eye back and red. They were the eyes of someone who had seen and done many horrific things to last a life time, it was the eyes of someone who had sold their soul to the devil.

"Do you think you're ready?" The female girl asked innocently like how one would talk to their pet, it was unsympathetic and almost cruel.

" _ **HUrry Up"**_ the voice of Takizawa which used to be so cheerful and full of emotion now was hollow and full of fear _**"I'm StArViNg!"**_

Xxx

Touka looked around her in horror in dismay as she stood in the empty corridor with blood already on her shoes. Touka was used to blood and seeing dead bodies but never had she seen anything quite this scale, the room was littered with dismantled corpses of doves. Their heads had been severed from their bodies and looked like they had been carelessly stood on or thrown about like basket balls.

She knew Kaneki didn't do this, it was Naki and it scared her to think that such a dangerous and rash ghoul was nearby but she couldn't dwell on that! She had find that shit-head Kaneki. She gulped trying to calm herself, she could hear noises coming from the right side of the corridor they smelt human and she could hear a man's voice shouting orders. The investigators weren't the ones Kaneki's was after so there was no need for him to go that way so she turned left.

Xxx

Mutsuki wondered what was going on. After being humiliated on that stage Nutcracker had dragged her down into an unfamiliar area of the college with rows of extra classrooms and offices. The hall was dully lit and old fashioned unlike the rest of the college. Mutsuki would hate to come down here in day time forget night time with an almost naked ghoul going on about money.

At first Nutcracker was pulling him tightly by the arm dragging him at the leisurely pace, probably going somewhere where Mutsuki could be packed off ready for Big Madam to collect. Suddenly they heard loud noises and banging above them with the sound of running footsteps and cries echoing above them, it wasn't long until Nutcracker started running. As a ghoul Nutcracker was fast and it would off made more sense for her to leave Mutsuki behind but Mutsuki now cost two hundred and twenty million and Nutcracker wasn't going to lose it.

Mutsuki tried to pull away from the ghoul, his arm hurt over the tightness of the ghouls grip and her long sharp nails digged into his skin and his muscles screamed and pulled but still Mutsuki tried to fight back but he was no match and the ghoul only pulled harder and moved faster. It was so fast that Mutsuki didn't notice the dark hooded shape of a familiar taxi driver watching thought the small square window of one of the classrooms.

The two ghoul and investigator travelled further down the hall when they were forced to slow down by some auction assistance who ran passed them in panic,

"Huh…" Nutcracker said turning back towards the running figures "What's this fuss about?" This was the chance Mutsuki needed now that Nutcracker's guard was dropped. The investigator yanked himself out of Nutcrackers grip and kicked the ghoul hard at the back of her leg. He didn't stay to watch Nutcracker fall down, already he was running forward towards the direction where the other ghouls were trying to get away from.

"Argh!" The Nutcracker ghoul tried pulling herself up with her arm outstretched "My two hundred million! Wa wait!"

She was ignored.

Xxx

Mutsuki was now resting catching his breath back as he sat on the comfy teachers chair in an empty class room. By the long rows of benches and the equipment of test tubes and Bunsen burners he could tell this was the science class. But that was not what was important at this moment, he was thinking about the words that host whispered to him before,

' _The operation failed, help won't come'_

But that was wrong! The operation by the sounds upstairs was in motion! Why would they lie like that? Or…How did that ghoul know about the raid in the first place? Did Nutcracker know that he and Suzuya were investigators as soon as they got in the car or even before then? But how? _Think Mutsuki think!_ Mutsuki put his head in his hands, if only he could team up with the CCG…

Mutsuki was so mixed up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the door of the classroom opening and someone stepping in. Mutsuki didn't look up until he noticed a dark shape looming over him his eyes widened, it was the ghoul who was competing for her against Big Madam…

"Servus! (Hello!)" A male ghoul with purple hair and dashing white clothes said with a thick German accent and is arms out stretched in a theoretical manner yet the look in his eyes was the type of look when a wolf has found its dinner. "What are you doing? Kaetchen (kitty cat)".

"Don't come any closer!" Mutsuki said getting of his seat and backed away from the ghoul in front of him, his insides trembling more than it did on the stage. He was alone in a quite classroom, no sound of anymore to heard in the corridors his quinque had been taken off him, probably still with that host ghoul, with a powerful looking ghoul in front of him. "Yo-you are that guy who participated in the bidding war…"

"Don't push me around you tra-" He stopped himself just in time he couldn't insult her as trash, if she was trash he wouldn't be chasing after her and he deserved better than trash he was a Rosewald after all…

"There's something I'd like to confirm first" The ghoul said his anger suddenly gone from his voice and replaced with calm and gentle tone but Mutsuki could see the ghouls eyes darkened in the mask, Mutsuki backed away further, his back bumped against a door his hand was already on it and handle,

"Confirm?" Mutsuki asked trying to keep his voice innocent as he watched the ghoul stretch out his hand

"Ja" He smiled his hand coming closer "you're… Geschmack! (Taste!)"

Xxx

They were in the college entrance. Urie and Shirazu used their quinque smashing though flocks of ghouls who kept charging at them or who tried to run away. Saiko seemed to be hiding somewhere cheering them on. Urie could sense other investigators around them, he couldn't be out done by them, he had to try harder.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye a large object was quickly making its way towards him but before he react he felt a heavy force push him down to the floor and as the large Kagune hit the wall missing Urie by a second. He looked up to see Shirazu on top of him the orange haired investigator pushed himself up and offered Urie his hand. But of course Urie being the stubborn (dick) investigator he was pushed himself up ignoring Shirazu's hand and mumbled a quick thanks as he watched the kagune pull its self out and everyone turned towards its user.

A bald plan man wearing all black from head to toe stepped out twitching his nose his koukaku was big but he was unknown. Suddenly the ghoul shot forward attempting to slice the investigators, they all put their quinque up to defence Urie and Shirazu were pushed backed and skidded across the floor.

"Rank 2 Urie and Rank 3 Shirazu" one of the investigators said turning towards the two "You need to grab rank 3 Yonebayashi and go straight ahead!"

"But…" Urie tried to protest, this was obviously a strong ghoul it would boost up his chance of graining that promotion. This was so typical! The higher ranks sending the lower ranks away so they could take the credit for themselves!

"No but's" The higher ranking investigator ordered "it an order from the commander, just leave the rest to us, the Ato squad"

Urie didn't argue any further "Saiko!" He called out and the named investigator popped her head around one of the bins. She watched the ghoul closely and quickly ran up to join her two team mates and three ran leaving the others behind.

Xxx

Kanae lashed out towards the white dressed investigator cutting Mutsuki's cheek, the rank 3 investigator stumbled back his hand pushing down the door handle and Mutsuki fell backwards into to a room. He had hoped this door would lead in another corridor or to the outside but he couldn't have been anymore wrong, it was a storage cuboid.

Now why the science teacher would neglect to leave cuboid full of dangerous chemicals and acids unlocked Mutsuki didn't have time to wonder. He scrambled away from the ghoul despair filling inside him. He had reached a dead end.

Mutsuki watched as the ghoul examined the blood on his fingers and lick it.

"Blitz! (Shock!)" The ghoul cried out his arms outstretched, it would have looked very dramatic if there was sunlight shinning though. Mutsuki couldn't tell what was going on in this ghoul's head he scrambled back further, was there any way to run past this ghoul. He doubted it. The German was completely blocking his exit and already Mutsuki started to feel his injured leg being to throb and Mutsuki had nothing to fight back with, this ghoul was going to eat him and Mutsuki couldn't do anything, he was suddenly wishing he had stayed at home.

It was then Mutsuki's eyes wandered to one of the lower shelves, his eyes widened as a plan began to form in his mind. Sitting on the shelves just arms reach was a large brown bottle with a yellow warning label saying 'Acid'.

Before the ghoul could do anything else Mutsuki began to reach for the bottle both his hands had already enclosed on the dangerous liquid until the German ghoul was suddenly spun around and thrown to the back wall. Mutsuki flattened himself against the other shelve just in time before the ghoul would smash into him and land in the box of plastic funnels.

Mutsuki looked towards his rescuer but the green haired investigator couldn't have been anymore wrong. Standing in front of him was the one person that Mutsuki didn't think he would see again. Torso.

The said ghoul was wearing the dark red robes of Aogiri Tree, he looked the same as ever but his eyes where wide and crazed, they were the eyes of obsession. And that large grin spread across his old pale face made him look even scarier than the other ghoul.

"Thank God" The Torso ghoul breathed, he sounded out of breath like he had been running. Had he been searching for Mutsuki all this time or running away from doves? That was more of a reason for Mutsuki to leave and he saw his opening! Mutsuki quickly uncapped the bottle of acid in his hands and with great skill he splashed the acid in the ghouls face.

Now of course acid wouldn't badly damage a ghoul that's what quinques were for but it would certainly hurt a ghouls eyes. The torso ghoul screamed and with percussion to ensure this ghoul wasn't going to chase after him any time soon he smashed the bottle on to the ghoul's head and the ghoul fell to the ground on top of the German one.

With that Mutsuki ran. Fast. Away from those two ghouls, away from Nutcracker. He had to find the CCG! He needed to find his friends! He left the class room and continued down the long narrow corridor.

Xxx

Kaneki was running being careful not to tread on any bodies or slip on blood, he kept an eye out for CCG investigators and Aogiri members but the only doves he could see were dead and he found some lower rank Aogiri members cowering inside dark empty classroom which the teachers had left unlocked, he checked them but left the members alone, he didn't want to kill more than he had too.

Kaneki prided himself for not being as carless as the other teachers, he skidded to a stop once he reached his own classroom which he remembered to lock before leaving yesterday. He needed a place to think, a quiet place. He took his classroom key out of his pocket, he never knew when he would need it, and he stepped into the dark classroom and locked the door behind.

He left the lights off and sat down behind his desk in thought, he couldn't stay here and ponder for long he knew that the CCG investigators will pass this way any minute now but he couldn't just rush around blindly he needed to think about his destination.

Finding Mutsuki was his first priory; after the bidding war was finished he saw that Mutsuki was taken inside the house. He hadn't worked in this college long to know how the stage and how that house worked but remembering the maps the stage was like an underground room so maybe that's were they kept all the humans? Then there was some stairs that would lead you to the drama classroom on the first floor and if he remembered right there were some science labs down there too.

Suddenly he heard noise coming out his window, he got up from his chair and moved towards the window. Looking down he could see the gardens which use to be so calm and full of pretty flowers but now those flowers had been trodden on by investigators and ghouls alike. The scene was moving too quickly for Kaneki to pick up much but he recognized Naki, he hadn't changed at all he was still wearing the same white suit, same hair and the same crazed expression and it seemed that he was fighting no other than Akira Mado and to his disgust she was using the quinque he hoped he would see again, not after Ryouko's death.

Akira was battling with Fueguchi One. Basically Hinami's father.

He turned away from scene, he hoped that Naki was up to match to kill Akira for using the weapon that tried to kill Hinami and Touka, the same weapon that came from Hinami's father. If Akira survived this fight then Kaneki hoped that he would run into her so he could kill her himself.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard loud voices shouting and the smashing of windows and doors and he realized he couldn't stay here it seemed that the investigators were coming this way.

He took one last quick look of his classroom, he didn't want to leave, he felt safe here but he couldn't waste his time besides he would back teaching in this room on Monday morning...won't he?

He left the classroom ensuring to lock the door, he looked back and it seemed that the investigators were busy fighting some random ghoul further on in one of the classroom. Without investigating any further the half-ghoul turned his back and headed for the stairs that would lead him to the ground floor.

Xx

' _Fuck you Kaneki…'_ Touka thought as a small group of Doves attacked her, they weren't powerful but they were with no doubt strong. She had been hiding in an empty classroom down the hall once she saw Kaneki go into his own. She didn't know what for but she just wanted Kaneki to move so she could follow him and get away from the Doves that had been coming closer. She had considered just going up the Kaneki's classroom and make herself known so they could get a move on but before she could make a move it was too late. One of those cursed Doves saw her mask though the window and they all charged at her and they were now fighting in a small classroom.

She knew she had grown soft over the years when she found herself not wanting to kill them but only disabling them she had already taken down one and broke their quinque. She only needed her legs and fists to fight as she threw there squad leader over the desk and smash her into the book cuboids. It was then she heard the sound of a door being opened then locked and she it must of been Kaneki.

Now the time for playing games was over. She shot out kagune and pierced the remaining doves they all fell back, the fight was so easy that she could laugh but she knew the battle wasn't over. She got of the classroom just in time to see the shape of Kaneki heading to the stairs.

He couldn't be going down to the ground floor could he? That was where most of the investigators would be! She ran towards the stairs using her speed and saw the fact that Kaneki was going down stairs.

Touka sighed, this was suicide but was she going to follow him? The answer was yes. She waited until could hear the half-ghouls footsteps getting quieter then she headed down herself hoping that whatever Kaneki got planned it better be good.

Xxx

Mutsuki was tired, thirsty, hungry, out of breath and his leg hurt like hell. Once he was happy with the distance he had put between himself and the ghouls he slid down against the wall to rest his sour leg, this was one of those rare moments when he wished that he had the powers of a ghoul so his leg would have gotten better days ago.

He could hear the battle still raging on outside, he wanted to carry on but his breaths were laboured and was having trouble breathing he felt this was the end, maybe if he died he would see his family again? Yeah…that wouldn't be too bad…No he couldn't die yet, he couldn't go down this way and let one of those ghouls take him not without knowing where his friends were. The investigator got up, he needed to carry on walking, he must be nearing an exit soon.

Xxx

'This was not good' Ayato thought as he found a quite hallway, that investigator was fast he wished he had more time for him but he had a duty which he could fulfil. He had no idea where Big Madam was and his fellow Aogiri members were scattered about! He needed to get some of them together and work a system. It was then he got a message from his ear piece, he switched it on a voice of one of his Aogiri solders was talking,

"Ayato!" she said "Naik and his group are outnumbered they are in the courtyard!"

"Understood" he said and switched on the device, that idiot Naki he had Big Madam to guard he didn't have time for this, it was suddenly when he noticed the familiar dark red robes of an Aogiri member running passed him, this person hadn't noticed Ayato he called out for the figure to stop and the said person suddenly froze to a halt.

Ayato could see that this person was small, probably a young woman she turned to face him but her hood was up covering her eyes and hair and she wore a mask covering the lower part of her face. She must have been hiding in the hall while his battle with the investigator was taking place and like Ayato he must have escaped though the smoke but he didn't care who this person was, she was all he had to work with.

"Don't worry" He said keeping his voice calm and gentle he didn't want to scare her after all "I will overlook your cowardliness if you report to the courtyard Naki needs back up, don't worry I will send some others to follow you" The person looked at him for a few seconds like she didn't understand the question but then she nodded and carried on running. Ayato just hoped that she would do as she was told now he could start his search for Big Madam and the only place she could think of was the sewers.

Back in the hall Suzuya leaned against the wall wondering why Rabbit retreated, it didn't matter anyway Suzuya was at a disadvantage without Jason and besides he had to look for Mutsuki.

Xxx

Kaneki was running down the familiar staircase which he had walked up and down countless times before but this was different the lower he got the louder the battle cries of ghouls and investigators and ghouls alike had become. The other difference was that for once he was not here as teacher but as a ghoul and he had ran into a few stray investigators coming up the stairs, they tried to battle him but he took them out with his fists in seconds.

He reached the ground floor and looked out of the window on the door which separated the staircase the main entrance, he saw a small squad of investigator battling this strange ghoul and they seemed to have took them by surprise but then to Kaneki's shock he saw that amongst that squad was two familiar faces, Shirazu and Urie holding _quinque_ like professionals and Kaneki knew they were going to be good investigators one day. It was then one of the men said something to them Urie had that face on him like he was going to protest but he seemed to give up and call out something and it was then Kaneki notice Saiko who had been hiding behind on the bin's.

Typical Saiko…Kaneki wondered what a girl like her would be doing working for the CCG and she seemed to be holding her _quinque_ wrong and that kind of worried Kaneki and he just hoped that the other two boys would look after her, he also wondered why they had been sent away? He was going to have to follow them, maybe they would lead him to Mutsuki?

It seemed that the squad was focusing on the other ghoul, Kaneki wanted to laugh, he remembered a time where any investigator would notice him maybe it was because of his shot of white hair that made him stand out? Well whatever it was he was glad it was gone now and he opened the door and quickly snuck past the fight.

Xxx

"So where are we going?" Shirazu asked Urie as the three ran as the voices of the Ato squad grew shorter. They were now heading towards an area that the group had never been in before, remembering from the maps they must be heading the lower floor classrooms.

"This area hadn't been raided yet" Urie answered while they were running "There shouldn't be many ghouls on this side because it doesn't lead to any exist but we have to check it anyway, we should come across some science labs and if we do then we are heading in the right direction"

The group nodded and carried on unaware of the dark figure of Centipede following them at a safe distance.

Xxx

A few minutes later the was over. It had been tough battle, Ato had sliced the koukaku ghoul from the waist down and the said investigator slumped on the floor and leaned his head against the wall, his brow was sweating and his breathing was starting to go back to normal.

"How many casualties do we have?" he asked as two of his subordinates who came to check on him

"Four of the reserve squad..." One of them answered as the tension was filling around them, four dead already and this was only one section of the college.

"That was a fierce battle..." the squad leader puffed out, thinking that he didn't want anymore casualties to fall...

If was too fast, too sudden for him or any other of the investigators to react none of them had anytime to blink let alone stop it when large shape of black ropes stepped out rushing past the investigators and towards Ato. The others could only stare wide eyes as the black robed clad ripped Ato's head from his body, blood spilt from the neck like a fountain so quickly that the poor investigator didn't have time to make a shocked or painful expression.

The white haired ghoul held the now severed head up letting the stray blood drops pour on his white skinned face "You're..." The ghoul spoke his voice barely a whisper "like a freshly picked pineapple..."

The fellow investigators watched in revulsion and disgust as the now headless body of investigator Ato fell to with ground with a sickening thump. The unknown ghoul turned to face the group holding the head of their leader by the hair and spinning around like a lasso.

"I can gather blood by doing this" the ghoul said casually like he was talking about the weather "It's tasty" The ghoul held the lower his lips then took a bite from the cheek as if he was munching on a freshly picked apple.

The squad stood there shaking some had tears running down their face, the sight was horrific, one minute there leader was there one minute he was gone and his body was being used in the most disrespectful way possible. It was sick. Suddenly with an anguished scream one of the investigators fired his quinque gun towards the white haired ghoul hitting him square in the chest but unfortunately the ghoul didn't fall.

"That hurts" The ghoul said dropping the half eaten head of Ato, now his attention was on the squad.

"Sawaiki, you idiot run!" One of the investigators stood in front of the investigator that had been shooting but before Sawaiki knew it the ghoul was already there and knocked his friend's head clean off more blood pouring everywhere.

" ** _SoFt jEllY"_** The ghoul gasped in pleasure savoring the taste of blood in his mouth. Now the remaining investigators started to run.

"Re-group with the other squads and wait for backup!" One of the investigators ordered "Contact commander Washu-" But the ghoul had already pounced, punched one investigator though the stomach with a crunch. Next he took the other investigator by the head and smashed his head against the wall with full force and the head was nothing more than blood and jam.

The rest started to run heading for exist but it was useless the ghoul would catch up to them in no time at all and one investigator knew this. He stopped to turn and face the ghoul, he needed to bribe time for the rest of the squad to run.

He turned his quinque towards the ghoul but the ghoul was faster and stronger, he had lifted his leg forward kicking the quinque from the investigators hands and meting his arm yanking his back into a painful angle. The investigator screamed as the ghoul laughed.

" _ **GiVe mE yOur BrAin jAm..."**_

 **Note: Yaayyy! Finally we get to see** **Seidou! I've been looking forward to writing him in since this fanfic begun and now finally he's in it! So tell me what you think, let me now in the reviews I mean you should be happy that you got an early update right? Well I suppose it's faster to write when the information is right in front of you.**

 **As usual I thank the following reviewers** **Flowering Lotus** **,** **,** **syndorias cinders** **,** **tats magicalmcguffins** **, Guest and** **nissangtrlover2569** **keep it up were are not far from 60 now LOL**

 **Oh by the way I'm still looking for a Beta, come one there must be one hiding somewhere...**


	17. Auction Arc: Alliance

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 17: Alliance**

Karao Saeki had just been in the middle of coming back to his senses when a sudden force yanked him up and threw him against the shelves of toxic chemicals, the sound of glass smashing to the floor reached his ears and now the room stunk of fumes and acid it made the Torso ghoul feel sick and dizzy. His head was banging and the acid that the investigator smashed in his eyes hadn't completely cleared. He could barely see the flamboyant young ghoul standing over him but his voice was a clear as day.

"Trash like you trying to oppose me…" The German ghoul said and adding insult to injury he stomped on to the weaker ghoul's neck making the Torso ghoul cough out dark blood. The older ghoul collapsed at the younger ghoul's feet feeling ashamed and humiliated. This ghoul was just too strong, even though Torso was older he was no match against this flashy rich ghoul.

"Scheisse" Kanae spat in frustration his eyes crazed and raged with furry "If that girl manages to get away, I'll come back and kill you…Until then" the ghoul said turning his back on the morning ghoul and strolled away "Just stay where you are!"

Xxx

Meanwhile Mutsuki found himself hobbling for what felt like forever, he needed to rest but he couldn't stop, he doubted what happened in the storage room would stop two obsessed ghouls. Finally the exit came into few. Now that he had found an exit he could regroup with a squad but then he froze when footsteps sounded from behind him and a familiar voice with an accent spoke out

"Well, well…" Mutsuki didn't need to turn around to see who it was "And where are you going, Kaetzchen?" The ghoul watched holding back a laugh as Mutsuki quickly took the fire extinguisher from the wall and hold it up in defence her legs seemed to be failing. "Oh…" Kanae smirked "Your legs seem to be betraying you, that's good that will make it easier to kill you!" with that Kanae suddenly rushed forward towards Mutsuki who put the fire extinguisher up in defence, the ghouls hand hit the metal and white foam suddenly shot out. The pressure and impact yanked Mutsuki back and now Kanae was standing where he was, blocking out the exit with his Rinkaku out ready for the capture.

Mutsuki watched wide eyes as the long red kagune came reaching towards him but suddenly the sound of running footsteps could be heard and the ghoul was stopped midway as an investigator came up from behind and kicked the ghoul in the stomach sending him flying against the wall.

The ghoul got up sneering at his attacker and Mutsuki couldn't help but feel the relief wash over him like a tidal him wave as Urie and Shirazu stood facing the ghoul with their quinque ready and waiting and of course Saiko was standing by the exit ready to make a run for it.

Shirazu and Urie launched their quinque together ready to chop the ghoul up and send him to cochlea but the ghoul was already up on his feet and dodged the investigators attacks and kicked the orange haired one in the face sending him to the ground, unfortunately losing his earpiece. He was about to attack the purple haired one who seemed to be stunned but before getting any closer and sound of a door being slammed open and Saiko gasping in surprise mading Urie and Kanae

look up to see a dark blurred shape run up to them and punch the German so hard that he went flying past Mutsuki, who had jumped out the way and the ghoul landed back where he started staring in shock at the ceiling.

The investigators looked up at the newcomer in shock he wore a black suit like he had just been to a special event but the black mask said differently, it the covered the lower half of the ghouls face with a large teeth zipped together where the mouth would be, his grey left eye was shown but his right was hidden by a black eyepatch. He stood there ignoring the investigators and strolled over the German who was pushing himself back up again.

Mutsuki couldn't help but notice something familiar about this ghoul and by others reactions they seem to have noticed too. He didn't know if it was the way he walked, or his hair line or how he held himself or maybe it was the atmosphere but what there was no doubt this was a ghoul but he saved them.

Kanae was already on his knees, the once elegant looking ghoul now looked roughed up and beaten he glanced up at the approaching ghoul and sniffed his mouth frowned in confusion then his face was the picture of shock.

"This smell…" He sniffed again eyeing the ghoul in dislike, now the two ghouls weren't in a crowed of mixed scents so Kanae could smell better "Are…are you…. Ken Kaneki?!"

Xxx

Somewhere up on the third floor three investigators from the Oshiba squad were running down the long corridors of classrooms, the leader Oshiba shouted orders towards his partners "let's find out where Madams group is hiding!" none of them noticed the Nutcracker ghoul watching them, hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't until one of the investigators heard a creaking noise coming from above, he looked up just as Nutcracker was about to pounce heading straight to his partner.

"Above you!" He shouted, the others stepped out of the way just in time for Nutcracker to slam her kagune down crashing to the floor.

"That body…" Oshiba said as he slashed his quinque towards the ghoul "Are you Nutcracker?!" The ghoul dodged and using her speed and kagune, she ran along the walls and doors as the squad shot at her but kept missing, they had to be careful since they were in a narrow space but the leader wasn't having it.

"Don't worry!" Oshiba shouted "It's a rate A Bikaku with this many of us she shouldn't be a problem", the leader slashed out using his quinque to cut the ghouls leg. The ghoul was put off balance and the investigator used this chance his slice her in the stomach and she tumbled to the floor.

"Keep her down!" The leader ordered as he jumped holding his quinque ready to slash down onto the ghoul but unfortunately the investigator was stopped halfway when a sudden long sharp object shot from the ceiling missing Oshiba by an inch making him break his jump. It was then he noticed that the object was a kagune, so she had trapped the ceiling? It was just as that Shirazu boy said! She was better than they thought!

Suddenly Nutcracker leapt up from the floor with her kagune out pushing everyone back as far as the narrow walls would go. Oshiba looked up in surprise, so not only did Nutcracker have bikaku but she also had a koukaku. Oshiba quickly turned on his earpiece,

"This is Oshiba…" he said hoping the person on the other end was Washuu, he looked around to find the rest of his squad unconscious or maybe dead… Nutcracker was making her way towards him her hair sawing back and forth, this was it. "Nutcracker has a combined type kagune…She's shown to have a koukaku in addition to her bikaku the estimated rating is…" but he was stopped in mid-sentence when Nutcrackers boot came down on his…I don't think I need to tell you as pain shot though his body starting between his legs, he was out like a light.

One of the investigators a woman got up on her knees, the Nutcracker ghoul looked behind her as she licked Oshiba's….Juices from her figures **(Note: Look I'm trying to keep this as T rated as possible ok)** She strolled over to the woman before she could stand on her feet, she took the investigators face in her hand, the investigator was too scared to move or fight back her weapon was out of reach as she could only watch as the ghoul looked down at her complimenting her 'fine eyes' and 'round forehead' as her mouth came closer and it was the last thing she saw as ghoul literally ate her face…. 

Xxx

Kanae, with a sudden urge of strength shot up and launched his Rinkaku towards the half ghoul who put up his own in defence. Kanae grit his teeth in frustration, this…this Pig, this dirty Pig! He thought as he tried to push the half-ghoul back with no result in fact he didn't look like he was even trying. Behind that one grey eye that Kanae could see the expression of determination but pity in his eyes like he knew Kanae wouldn't win and was just hoping that he would give up. This is the guy that his master was fantasized with, the one who made him stop being the Gourmet and turn on the restaurants that his family worked hard to build.

But it seemed that Urie wasn't that patient as Kaneki, the investigator to Kaneki's surprise jumped over the eyepatch ghoul got in-between the two ghouls and sliced Kanae in the chest with his quinque. The German ghoul fell back to the ground with a thump and Kaneki could only stare in shock.

It was then Urie looked back at the masked ghoul then towards Mutsuki who just sat there on the floor in shock then looked back at the ghoul he had just defeated. It was like he didn't know what to do first, question the ghoul who had saved them, take the ghoul in that tried to kill them or question Mutsuki who wasn't supposed to be here? But it was Mutsuki who spoke first and it was directed towards the ghoul who saved them,

"You're Centipede aren't you?" The Mutsuki shakily but it wasn't the fact a SS rated ghoul was in front of him that made him shiver it was thought that if his squad had been a second late he could of been dead and if it wasn't for this eyepatch ghoul then they would probably _all_ be dead and then Mutsuki said the thing that had been going on though everyone's mind when the ghoul first showed himself. "You're Haise Sasaki aren't you?"

But before the eyepatch ghoul could respond the door to the exit bashed open everyone turned to see a dark figure of a woman standing there, the darkness covered her face and features. A Rinkaku shot from the woman's back and came hurtling towards them, the group put up their quinque (in Kaneki's case kagune) in defence but the woman wasn't aiming at them but instead her kagune went over their head and wrapped around the fainted Kanae and dragged him over her side then without warning a large wall of red vine like things shot from the floor up to the ceiling blocking the investigators and the one ghoul from the exit with Kanae and Matsumae on the other side.

Xxx

"Move you shits!" Naki cried out as he sliced the heads of investigators clean off with blood spilling everywhere, large hot tears where pouring from the ghouls red and black eyes he was in a frenzy and he needed to calm down Hinami could see that. It was a gruesome sight, Hinami almost wasn't going to follow Ayato's order but she had hope that her onii-chan would be there but she was wrong all she found was this upset and distraught ghoul.

He must have lost someone important to him, Hinami thought as she stood on the side-lines. She understood how this ghoul felt, these investigators must have killed some of his friends and she wanted to help, she wanted to defeat the woman who was using her father's kagune as weapon and to calm down the crazed ghoul but she didn't know how, she didn't think she would be strong enough despite her training with Kaneki she had never been involved in a battle such as this.

She watched in horror as the investigators shot at the ghoul Naki, his legs shook under him and blood spilt from his mouth. She clenched her jaw it seemed that the daughter of the man who killed her mother and father was winning and she stood no chance.

She realised then that she shouldn't have come and there was no reason to stay, she needed to find her onii-chan but this was a big college and she was at loss on where to start.

Xxx

SLASH! Urie tried to cut down the Kagune wall with his quinque but it made no effect. The others could only stand there in shock, they hadn't seen anything like this before even Kaneki with his many battles of fighting ghouls had never seen a ghoul detached it kagune although he couldn't help but be reminded of that time he broke into Kanou's lab and found all the kagune like stuff inside the walls.

"Quit it Urie it isn't going the budge" Shirazu said making Urie stop his slashing, Kaneki walked over to examine the wall,

"It seems that the ghoul was able to detach her Kagune…" He commented poking the wall with his finger,

"Just like Nutcracker" Shirazu mumbled rubbing the bandage still on his hand. But they were broken out of their thoughts when Urie suddenly turned to point his quinque towards the ghouls back, the whole room seemed to haul to a stop.

"Urie!" Shirazu gasped "What the fuck are you doing?" Mutsuki and Saiko stayed to the side eyes widened in shock as they watched the masked ghoul and two of the strongest members of their team.

"What does it look like" Urie said keeping his eyes fixed on the ghouls back unmoving, the ghoul didn't even move his hand away from the wall he seemed to know what was going on but he didn't seem frightened or shaky though like most ghouls would instead he was calm and if this was the person Mutsuki thought it was then they had no chance of Urie winning. "This person is obviously a ghoul" Urie continued "And if he's who I think he is then we have must eliminate him and take his body back to CCG" What Urie was really thinking was the promotion he will be getting when they discover that he took down the famous Centipede ghoul, he might be able to be promoted to First Class.

"Ok then…" The masked ghoul said, he wasn't bothering to disguise his voice, he was starting to sound like the person they had been forced to listen to all week "And who do you think I am?"

"I think Mutsuki made it loud and clear" Urie answered "you are the SS rated ghoul Centipede previously known as Eyepatch but you're real name is Ken Kaneki but lately you have been going by another name isn't that right Sasaki-sensei?" The others stared awaiting for an answer or a reaction. Mutsuki could swear there was a smile behind that mask.

"You all catch up very quickly, I should have been more carful" he said and he reached his arms to the back of the neck to unzip the mask "I worked out that you guys were investigators, you should be more discreet when you are trying to video someone Urie…"

The other three turned to Urie confused, what video? Urie bit his lip back looking very uncomfortable but he kept his eyes and weapon on the ghouls back. He gripped his weapon tighter when he saw that the ghoul was going to turn and face them and that's what the half-ghoul did, now the four investigators were staring into the face of their teacher Haise Sasaki or how he should be known as Ken Kaneki.

"But… how?" Saiko said specking for the first time and everyone suddenly remembered that she was in the room "That day when Mado-san scanned your RC level you got a green light?"

Kaneki nodded smiling while scratching the side of his face looking nervous "Yeah I did I was surprised myself but I think the detector must of got confused because it's never scanned a half-ghoul before"

"So it's true…" Mutsuki said in wonderment "Half-ghouls exist?"

Kaneki nodded wordless and turned back towards the kagune wall with a thoughtful expression

"As much as I would like to answer all your questions" He said solemnly "And I sure have a lot of questions you four but I'm afraid this is neither the time nor place" He turned his head towards Mutsuki "Mutsuki-kun is there anymore ghouls down these corridors?"

"No…oh wait" The green head suddenly remembered "There was another ghoul after me who fought the one that was taken but I managed to take him down with a bottle of acid"

"Where would you get acid from?" Shirazu interrupted,

"It was from the science room" Mutsuki explained "But that acid bottle shouldn't have stopped him for this long…"

"You're right" Kaneki nodded "He is either wimp licking his wounds or that ghoul beat him up, well which ever it is he's still around here so we need to be careful and Urie…" Kaneki turned to face the purple haired investigator "There is no need to point you're quinque at me" he said looking the investigator in the eyes in his typical teachers voice "As you know I'm an SS rated ghoul and I could break that quinque in seconds but I won't because we are on the same side, I'm also against the auction and Aogiri's plans I'm sure you have read my track record?"

Urie nodded, the most places Centipede was sighted was when he attacked ghoul restaurants and fighting with Aogiri members he didn't really kill humans but he had killed many fellow investigators and he was a criminal, top of the wanted list and now he found after four years how could Urie let him go?

"If you must know…" The half-ghoul stated "The CCG aren't doing so well at this moment, I've been on the second floor and came across dismantled bodies of investigators, killed by the S rated ghoul Naki and I'm sure plenty more are dying so we can't just stand here and wait for this wall to disappear" He gestured to the kagune wall behind him "The only other way out is to go back down the hall where Mutsuki had been though, go through the underneath of the stage and appear where the auction took place then we are free to move about as we please".

"Why should we trust you?" Urie said pointing his kagune into the half-ghoul chest "How do we know you are not going to turn on us…"

"Urie just do as he says" Shirazu said with uncharacteristic softness in his voice "If he wanted to kill us he would have done it by now or he would have let us get hurt by that ghoul but instead he saved us and besides we are only rank three investigators what can we do against an SS ranked that even Arima couldn't defeat?" Urie just stared at him in disbelieve.

"He right" Mutsuki said softly "At the most it's us that has the advantage, he is an enemy of both Aogiri Tree and the CCG it would be at some point that a strong member of one of those parties will attack him that's when he can't keep an eye on us, is that right Sensei?"

Kaneki smiled and nodded "You make a very good point Mutsuki-kun and besides the fact that you all know my identity has put me at the disadvantage and my plan is going haywire anyway and because I don't want kill you guys you have basically won, it's the Aogiri ghouls you have to worry about and I can fight them of easily"

"Why are helping us?" Saiko said interrupting the ghoul, Kaneki noticed for the first time that the young woman looked upset, betrayed maybe? Kaneki looked away trying to put a reassuring smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head feeling awkward.

"It's not easy to explain and I don't really understand myself" Kaneki said "Would you believe me if I said I came here out gut instinct because I knew I had something important to do?" The others just looked at him unblinking, it was then Mutsuki who nodded,

"Yeah I do" He said, the investigator said not meeting any of his squad in the eyes, he hugged his knees tighter towards his chest "I wasn't meant to be here, I was meant to be sitting at home because of my leg, but how I could I when my friends where risking their lives in this raid? So after research I got Nutcracker to give me a lift a few minutes before Suzuya and then I was drugged and put on that stage…" The room was silent "So far I've been manhandled by Nutcracker chased by Torso and some rich German ghoul and my leg hurts like hell but I don't regret coming here because sitting at home worrying is worse" No one said anything for a while, the area was dragged into the tense silence even the battle raging outside fell on deaf ears.

Urie pulled his quinque away from the half-ghoul and turned his back on him,

"Let move" He said sulkily as he turned his head towards Mutsuki "You remember the way you came from right?" He asked, Mutsuki nodded,

"Yeah" He said "but we need to be careful Torso and Nutcracker could be down there…"

"Wait" Kaneki interrupted "Is Torso the other ghoul who was chasing you?"

"Yeah" Mutsuki nodded "What about it?"

"Can you lead him to were you last saw him?" The half ghoul asked, Mutsuki looked at the ghoul in surprise.

"Yeah I can I left him in one of the science classrooms" Mutsuki explained pointing down the hall "But why do you want to see him?"

"Well let's just say him and me have some business…"

Xxx

Back in the blood stained college entrance two investigators, a man and a woman were trapped in the corner the exit being blocked by the mysterious black robed ghoul, they huddled together quivering in fear in the sea of their friend's blood as the ghoul strolled up to them closer and closer his words hanging in the air as if he was a Shinigami himself,

"You're grown up being told to clean the food off your plate right?" the ghoul said his lips dark and dripping with blood as his hair covered the emotions in his eyes "Don't be picky, they say. I don't like carrots but now everything that I can eat tastes awesome!" He stopped a few feet away from them "You're shaking a lot, I get it. You're scared because the fear you feel is difference. Like big and small, men and woman, young and old what you two are afraid of is what's different from yourselves"

The investigators watched as the strange ghoul tilted his down to the side as in thought "So…" the ghoul carried on "If you become the same it's not scary, killers, monsters, ghouls…if you become what you are afraid of, fear will fade…." It was now the ghoul was closer and his face and eyes was visible under the messy white hair and black hood "What you two are afraid of, is the door of death in front of you. So I'll have you become that. Once you're dead, death is no longer scary, you're scared because you are a living person. Got that?"

"Are…are you…." The female investigator started finally looking up and seeing the ghoul clearly for the first time "Takizawa?" The ghouls eyes widened in surprised on hearing his name but the woman carried on "You are the graduate who came to the academy to give a lecture about the quinque" The woman leaned forward towards the ghoul pointing to herself "It's Togi" She said introducing herself "Takizawa, are you….You're Takizawa right?!"

The ghoul stayed silent for a while looking down at the human woman his dark lips where in a frown of thought as he spoke "Togi…" the suddenly his eyes lightened up and a large smile appeared on his face "Hina Togi! The clown who was always talking during lectures, that was you!"

The said girl smiled hoping filling her "Yeah that's right!" Now maybe if Takizawa remembered he would spare their life's but that hope didn't last for long as the now ghoul Takizawa ripped off the girls head and stabbed his arm right thought her body

" _ **LISTEN PROPERLY DURING LECTURE!"**_

XXX

Saeki was resting getting his strength back, well that's what he kept telling himself when really he was just too scared to move. He had no desire to obey the German ghoul but yet had no desire to die either, it seemed that the Saeki had lost this battle. The Torso ghoul looked up in surprise when the sounds of footsteps could be heard, fear struck him when he thought that the flashy German ghoul was going to come back and finish him off but then he realized that the sound was more like multiple footsteps instead of one and they seemed to be coming closer to the science classroom.

He wished he could smell if the trespassers where human or ghoul but the scent of chemicals were to strong and blocked his senses. The first thing he heard was the voices,

"Shit this place stinks!" The voice of a male said,

"I feel sick" A female voice winged,

"How do you think I feel?" A male voice said "My nose has been improving recently, let's just find him and get him and get out of here"

It was then that Torso saw the strangest sight he thought wouldn't be possible, standing in front of him as a masked man, who must have be a ghoul with three white coated investigators behind him along with the woman he had been chasing.

So, he had a chance after all… A crazed smile crept on the ghouls face but before he could even move the masked ghoul grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of the cuboid this to Saeki was more like a blessing. The masked ghoul then pushed Saeki down onto one of the chairs, the two females stayed back while the two male investigators stood either side of the Torso ghoul with the masked ghoul in front.

"Do you recognise my mask Saeki-san" The ghoul asked, Torso blinked, his head was still spinning due to the chemicals but when he thought about it he had seen this mask before, in the newspaper maybe it was then a light struck in the Torso ghouls head and fear took over him,

"You, you're Centipede aren't you?" The Torso ghoul said with a trembler in his voice "What do you want? Why are you after me?"

"Oh I have my reasons" The ghoul said tilting his head to the side as he looked down at the pathetic ghoul "Such as killing a friend of mine that destroyed another friend's happiness oh and for attacking Mutsuki as well" The gestured to the investigator behind him "But don't worry I don't plan on killing you just yet". The Centipede ghoul turned to the two investigators at his side

"Have you guys noticed something?" He said to the two investigators who looked at him in surprise "I've been on the second floor and the first and yet most of the ghouls I've seen are from Aogiri Tree"

"Meaning?" Shirazu asked clueless but Urie understood

"If an auction is taking place" The purple haired investigator said "There should be customers"

"That's right" Kaneki nodded "So where are they?" They all looked towards the Torso ghoul who was shaking in fear, as an Aogiri member Torso must know where Big Madam and the customers are being protected but if he told this ghoul and investigators he would be a traitor but then what will these investigators and this powerful SS rated ghoul do to him if he didn't.

"They must be somewhere in his building Saeki" Kaneki said "You might as well tell us, you already ran away from the fight so it's not like Aogiri will take you back"

"Please…" The Torso ghoul whimpered "They will kill me…"

"And these two investigators will kill you sooner if you don't answer the question" Kaneki interrupted "Or worse they could take you into questioning they might even torture you for information…But if you help me I will give you a quick death or of I'm feeling generous I will help you hide from Aogiri, what do you say? It's better than the alterative…"

Saeki thought about the ghouls words, so if he didn't speck will be taken by the CCG but if he talk he was at Centipedes mercy who would give him a quick death or help him, to be honest he liked that chance better. He had heard things about Cochlea and the terrible things they do to ghouls there so maybe a quick death would be better well it be quicker than a death penalty from Aogiri he was sure of that.

"Madam and the customers are being protected by Aogiri" He answered "They are under the college, down in the sewers they are just waiting for the right time to escape"

"Ok" Shirazu nodded "But how do we get to the sewers?"

"The CCG would know" Kaneki answered "You need to join with a squad and tell them where they are and I will take care of this guy" He gestured to the ghoul, the others nodded. Kaneki took Saeki by the arm and steered him to the door "You try any funny business" He whispered in the ghouls ear "I will just kill you, understand" The ghoul nodded as he was pushed in front with Centipede and four investigators behind him. It was then Torso wondered how four investigators and a dangerous SS rated ghoul was able to make an alliance? But he had to say the five looked good together.

 **Note: I know that recently I've been revering to Mutsuki as 'she' but this is because ghouls like Torso and Kanae don't know that she's a boy.**

 **Also the speech that Takizawa says in this chapter is taken from TG:Re Chapter 24 page 11 to 13 I decided to quote it word from word since this speech is so good and just tells us a lot about Takizawa as he is now.**

 **And how did you like Nutcracker in this chapter? It's hard to write her when I want to keep the fanfic T rated LOL.**

 **Oh and how did you like Kaneki's reveal? If was quite hard trying to keep them in character and trying to imagine how each investigator would react but I think I did ok I wanted the reveal to be smooth and in a calmer environment expect in a big battle scene where it can get messy and confusing.**

 **So over all it was a hard chapter to write.**

 **And at least we know where Hinami is now but where is Touka? In the next chapter we might go back to Hide and Chie for a little bit but it will mainly focus on Kaneki and the QS squad and maybe our favourite Takizawa.**

 **I would like to thank the follower reviews as usual Guest, nissangtrlover2569, tats magicalmcguffins, and Flowering Lotus. Yeah! And we got over 60! Let's go for 70 now lol**


	18. Auction Arc: Secrets

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 18: Secrets**

Touka was at a loss on what to do, all she could do was stare at the large kagune wall that blocked her way towards Kaneki. She sighed in frustration, she had tried destroying the wall with her Ukaku but every time the winged kagune hit the wall bits from the wall kagune would stick itself onto her wings like worms then the wall would just attach itself again, it was rather annoying. She wondered who the fucker was that made this wall in the first place. Now she cursed herself for not remembering the college's layout better, this college was too big for one town and it branched off to different sections that it got confusing.

Looks like it was back to the roof again.

Xxx

The group continued down the rows of classroom with Kaneki pushing Torso in the front with Urie behind him, the Shirazu, Saiko and Mutsuki at the back the green haired investigator wanting to stay away from the Torso ghoul as much as possible. All the events that's had happened so far were rushing though Mutsuki's head, this was his first raid but he never thought it would turn out as strange as this. He had never heard stories of investigators saying that they had ever teamed up with a ghoul and one that ended up being your teacher at that. He was just taught to kill a ghoul on sight yet was there really reason to kill Sasaki…or Kaneki? He hadn't hurt anyone yet and hasn't shown any act of violence towards them. He was so confused.

He listened in to Kaneki's and Shirazu's conversation.

"So…" Shirazu started "If you are a dangerous SS rated ghoul why are you a teacher? If it wasn't for gobbling kids up…"

"Oh no!" Kaneki said with a laugh "I have never eaten any of my students, being a teacher is something I wanted to do for a while but I never thought I had the confidence for it".

"So what made you go for it?" Mutsuki asked wanting to be included in the conversation,

"Well I gained confidence" Kaneki said with a shrug "But my friends still say I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to girls!" He laughed and Mutsuki, Shirazu and Saiko couldn't help but smile expect Urie who just rolled his eyes and Torso who was still quaking in fear under Kaneki's watchful eye.

"So how do you eat then" Urie asked trying to break the cheerful mood, the others went silent but if Kaneki noticed the tension he didn't show it.

"Well I still have ties to people in Tokyo" Kaneki answered "There is a small group of ghouls who find suicide victims and deliver the body parts to ghouls I'm on that list".

"So you don't hunt?" Shirazu asked,

"Not since I left Tokyo, which was about four years ago" Kaneki answered "But don't worry I've continued my training at home so it's not like I'm out of practice when it comes to fighting ghouls, hey!" Kaneki stopped pointed to a door at the end of the hall and turned to Mutsuki "That's door leads to the under the stage right?"

Mutsuki nodded feeling nervous, he was expecting Nutcracker to pop out at any moment and he hoped that the female ghoul had gone back though under the stage and was bothering someone else.

Kaneki opened the door and pushed Torso though as they were greeted by rows upon rows of boxes, well more like crates. They filled the enter room just leaving space for people to move in single file.

"These crates…" Shirazu started "Do these contain… the humans?"

"Afraid so…" Mutsuki said nodding and couldn't help but shiver as he took in the room and the amount of people that must have been taken.

"Then shouldn't we free them?" Shirazu said as he was about to make a move to the nearest crate but he stopped as Kaneki placed a free hand on his shoulder.

"Not the right time Shirazu" The half-ghoul with a shake of the head "As much as I don't want to leave them here it's too dangerous at this moment to escort all these people out the college while different battles are taking place".

"We can tell a squad where these people are" Urie said sternly "But at this moment they are safer here than they would be outside" Shirazu look still looked a little reluctant but nodded all the same.

"I wonder why the CCG haven't found them yet" Mutsuki said gesturing to all the boxes "I mean you would think they would of left a squad here to ensure none of the humans are stolen in the commotion?".

"I think the commotion is the reason why they haven't found this place yet " Kaneki answered solemnly, but still he couldn't help but notice how strange this situation was, surely that other investigator who attacked Rabbit and Uta would know of this place so what's stopping him telling the rest of the CCG? There was also the fact how disorganised the CCG were being, from what Kaneki could tell they all seemed to be scattered around and they haven't even been over the whole college. Did the CCG underestimate the scale of the auction? Or the amount of Aogiri members in the building?

Hang on! When Kaneki watched the college before the auction only one van came to the college with only a handful of Aogiri members but now there seemed to be a lot more that the CCG are now struggling.

Kaneki looked over to Torso in thought, Torso said the customers are hiding in the sewers but why did that statement feel wrong? He knew there must be a sewers down the college he didn't know how to get to it but when he was in the auction hall it looked like several hundred ghouls were there, he was sure whatever entrance there was to the sewers surely they couldn't get all those frightened ghouls down the sewers that quick for the CCG not to notice?

"Hey guys!" Saiko cried out in a sing-song voice "Can we get out of here, this place is a little creepy" They couldn't agree more so in single file they made their way through the large crates towards the centre where the open trap door had a set of stairs leading up. Kaneki went first with Torso as the others followed behind and Kaneki found himself in a narrow room with long walls leading to the top and a set of curtains where the door should be it was then Kaneki knew where he was. He moved towards the curtains and opened him to be faced with rows of seats where he had been sitting not only a while ago.

"I was hoping I wouldn't stand on this stage again…" Mutsuki said a little shakily but she felt the gentle hand of Shirazu touch his arm.

"Don't worry" He said with a smile "You're with us now!"

"Wow this stage is huge!" Saiko gasped as she stepped out onto the stage looking around, the group had just appeared out of the house that still stood in the middle of the stage. Kaneki was surprised that it was still intact and that the CCG haven't looked into it. Kaneki was only snapped back into the real world by a short scream from Saiko who now stood at the edge of the stage staring down where the piles of bloody corpses piled on top of each other with looks of fear and panic on their faces.

"These must have been the ghouls that investigator managed to kill…" Kaneki said solemnly looking around for any signs of Uta's body among the dead but he wasn't which was something that Kaneki was happy about since Uta had too much explaining to do.

"Hey we shouldn't hang about" Urie said a little too coldly "We need to find a squad and work out what to do with these two ghouls" He gestured towards Kaneki and Torso, the older one looking fearful and but half-ghoul didn't seem to bothered, despite the mask hiding his face expressions Mutsuki could tell that the half-ghoul and more pressing things on his mind.

The group climbed down the stage trying to avoid stepping on blood or dead bodies of ghouls. He wondered where that investigator was now. Still chasing Ayato? Kaneki noticed the sounds of the battle coming from the outside and he tightened his hold on Torso as they moved though the rows of seats and towards the exit. He didn't know what he was going to do once they found a squad, the best course of action would be to explain the strange situation to the squad leader but then what? There was no way in hell that he was going to let himself be captured or killed by a Dove, especially not tonight and he felt the familiar rush excitement creep up on him, it was the same excitement he had when battling Nishio.

The frill of the danger. The chase. Is that why he had really come to the auction? For excitement? Was a normal life not good enough for him anymore? Is that the reason why he had let those four investigators know who he was?

They made it to the door and group made the quick jog down the corridor getting further and further away from the hall and getting closer to where the battles raged. They kept an eye out for squads but they didn't come across any.

"We are more likely to find a squad outside" Kaneki said while running "There is a side door hidden further down were the ghouls came in before the auction, we should head out that way!" The investigators nodded deciding to trust the half-ghoul's information. And just as Kaneki said all they had to do was turn a corner to find a small side door leading to the outside. Kaneki pushed it open having the need to take his mask off so he could feel the nice cold air but it was Mutsuki who was the most relieved, he thought he would never feel fresh air again after being locked in that crate and running down those corridors.

"Which way should we go?" Shirazu asked,

"Around the back!" Urie answered and no one argued as they followed him, it made sense to go this way since this was where the battle cries where the loudest. They were making at good pace until Mutsuki stopped and fell to his knees it was Kaneki who was the first to look back. He pushed Torso towards Urie and ran up to the fallen Mutsuki.

"Are you ok?" He asked the green haired investigator "Is you're leg still hurting?"

"I'm sorry" Mutsuki said staring at the ground fighting back tears "I'm being useless aren't I?"

"Don't think that" Kaneki said with a shake of the head "if it weren't for you I wouldn't of found Torso and wouldn't have found that exit in the stage, but you can't fight with that leg…" He turned to Urie who still had hold of Torso. "Urie you going to have to take Mutsuki away from here surely the CCG has set up a medical van nearby"

"But why me!" Urie demanded, he a followed enough orders from this ghoul already and if he followed this one he would lose his credit and a chance for that award, those other investigators would get all the big ghouls first!

"I'm sorry Urie" Kaneki said noticing the unhappy look in Mutsuki's face "But Saiko can't even hold a quinque right and Shirazu lacks direction only you can lead Mutsuki to safely, I understand as an investigator that you want to haul in some achievements but I can't ask anyone else but you"

"Understood." Urie pushed the Torso ghoul rather roughly than necessary towards Kaneki and dragged Mutsuki back up to his feet and two headed in the opposite direction but not without Mutsuki looking back towards his sempai, why did he have the feeling he won't be seeing the half-ghoul for a while now?

Xxx

Urie kept his arm tightly around Mutsuki's waste while the green haired investigator hobbled most of the way, seriously Urie didn't have the patience for this although he knew Mutsuki was going as fast as he could he couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Thank you Urie" Mutsuki said snapping the purple haired investigator out of his thoughts, before Mutsuki could say anymore Urie stopped him, it was too dark for Mutsuki to see the cunning grin on his face all he heard was the 'sincerity' of his words.

"Mutsuki…stop. I'm sorry…Shit I messed up"

"What's wrong Urie?" Mutsuki asked as they stopped walking, they were only a few feet away from coming towards the front entrance so what could be wrong?

"We should have been able to see the medical van from here" Urie said hiding the smirk on his face, Mutsuki was so stupid "Yet I can't see it, there is no point in you walking all the way if It's not there just sit down for a while…"

"You mean something had happened to the medical squad?" Mutsuki asked worried,

"Well it's more likely I forgot where the van is" Urie said, there was no point worrying Mutsuki as he sat him down on the floor, of course he knew where the medical van would be. If they were on the other right side of the college instead of the left they would be able to see the medical can from there but right now that didn't seem to be the case.

"It's ok" Mutsuki said gently forgetting the augment those two had before "It's not your fault for forgetting I'm just grateful that you are taking care of me, can't you call the medical squad on your earpiece?"

"I lost it while fighting that stupid German ghoul" Urie said, which was a lie his earpiece was safely in his pocket there was no way he was taking calls from anyone who would take his credit away from him. Urie smirked when a plan started to form in his head,

"Mutsuki" Urie turned to the green haired investigator "I'm going ahead to look for the medical squad and there is no need for you to put more pressure on your foot it would be just faster if I went alone and bring them to you…"

"But wait!" Mutsuki said in panic "You can't just leave me, what if a ghoul comes while you're gone!"

"It's quite here so you should be fine, the ghouls would all be looking to battle with the stronger investigators" Urie said as he reached into his pocket, he always carried a quinque knife around in case something happened to his quinque case "take this!" He threw the knife at Mutsuki who caught it with ease "You work well with knifes don't you so you should be fine, I'll only be a few minutes"

Before Mutsuki could say anything more Urie was already speeding off, he had done it! It was so easy to get away from the squad, he supposed that Shirazu and some other squad could handle Centipede but he had a new aim now, to find Big Madam and the rest of the customers. That was the CCG's main mission.

Xxx

Meanwhile Kaneki was hoping that he hadn't made a mistake in letting Urie take care of Mutsuki, he didn't like the look on the purple haired investigators face at all but what could he do? The only thing to do was push it at the back in his head to worry about it later for now he had a dangerous ghoul, an investigator who can't even fight and an investigator who didn't look like he wanted to be left alone with the half-ghoul. It was then that Kaneki realized that with Urie out of the group he felt like he had the advantage, none of these three he was with had any idea on what to do next or how to act, at this moment the person who was in charge was Kaneki.

"Let's go" The half-ghoul ordered, the others nodded but before they could go anywhere a voice in the darkness stopped them

"You would make a good squad leader if you weren't a ghoul" The voice said Kaneki, Shirazu, Saiko and even Torso snapped their heads around to see a dark figure on the floor leaning against one of the bins a few feet away from them. Kaneki could tell he was a Dove due to the white coat and the case lying at its side but he looked injured if not tired and he didn't look too much of a threat but Kaneki wondered how he didn't notice him before.

"Hey is that..." Shirazu started getting closer to the slouched figure "Are you from Oshiba's squad?" Now getting closer the Dove didn't look so good, he was deadly pale and looked like he had been crying and his black hair messily hung over his face plus he was on his own which means that something must of happened.

"My name is Hayahimura" The Dover answered wearily not looking at the investigators but the half-ghoul with them and the ghoul he had with him "Going by the mask I will say you're Centipede?" He said to the mask ghoul "And you've caught Torso, guessing by the way you are holding him you two aren't friends…"

"You're right" Kaneki nodded as he knelt down facing the Dove "What happened to you?" But instead of answering Hayahimura turned towards Shirazu

"You and rank 2 Urie are following orders from this ghoul" The Dove said nodding in Kaneki's direction "Can you trust someone like him?"

"He saved our lives and got us out of a tight spot" Shirazu answered strongly but there was still nervousness betrayed in his voice "He's also an enemy of Aogiri I say we trust him for now" The Dove nodded in understanding and turned back to the Eyepatch ghoul.

"It was Nutcracker" He answered "She up on the third floor" The Dove nodded up to a top floor where Kaneki could see a window broken "The squad leader and his juniors are still…" Kaneki gulped, he didn't know much about Nutcracker but from experience of past fights it seemed that the Oshiba squad was killed…

"Are you injured?" Kaneki asked gently as he could when he noticed that the Dove was trying to get up

"I fell from that smashed window but a tree cushioned the impact, I'm lucky I only have a bruise"

"You should follow Urie and Mutsuki to a medical squad" Kaneki said "Mutsuki is hobbling so you should be able to catch up"

"That might be a good idea…" But he was interrupted when a sudden black shape fell from the roof knocking Shirazu and Saiko over and aimed his fist towards Kaneki, the half-ghoul only had enough time to pull his kagune out in its lowest form before the pale fist could make contact.

"Seriously! This dude stopped me!" His attacker screamed but Kaneki had no time to ponder on his words or what his attacker looked like he was busy trying to put some more RC cells into his kagune. Usually a weaker form of his rinkaku would be enough to hold off a surprise attack but this ghoul had unbelievable strength he felt his rinkaku breaking already, he couldn't hold him off long and the kagune broke and there was a sudden pain in his shoulder and he was sent flying backwards skidding across the ground.

He heard Saiko and Shirazu shout of his name in worry, Kaneki put his hand on his already healing shoulder and he noticed that his shoulder had been bitten by the attacker. He heard the smacking of lips and a rapid voice speck out,

"Delish!" The attacker cried "This exquisite taste…I've never tasted anything like this!" That was funny, it was the kind of thing Shuu would say but Kaneki knew this wasn't a person he knew. He looked up and he was face to face with the most crazed ghoul he had ever met, and that was saying something, his attacker had dried blood stained around his mouth and face but his hair still stayed a snowy white that almost covered his round crazed eyes and there was also blood around his black finger nails. Kaneki shivered it was like seeing an older version of himself, of the person he could of become if he didn't have his friends supporting him, Kaneki was lucky but this guy wasn't.

The white hair and black nails show sign of stress from torture, Kaneki only knew it too well.

Out of the corner of his eye Kaneki saw Shirazu step forward "Sasaki-sensei!" He called out

"Stay back!" Kaneki ordered and Shirazu was pulled back by a very frightened Saiko.

"Sasaki…Haise Sasaki" The white haired ghoul mumbled, his large eyes staring of into space "I see…so you are…" The suddenly the ghoul laughed, a maniac laugh "That's bastard Eto! What a way to set things up! Is that why the bitch sent me here bwahaha"

Eto? So Owl was behind this? And what did this ghoul mean by 'sent' don't say that's he's….

"I wonder how…" The ghoul started and Kaneki could see another attack was coming, he had to get to his feet "You're meat tastes!" And the ghoul charged once again at Kaneki but the half ghoul was prepared, pretending to be weak he stayed on the floor waiting the ghoul to get close enough once a couple feet away Kaneki pulled his kagune out once again only it was stronger and more solid and it pierced right though the ghouls chest and ghoul coughed up blood. He could here Shirazu cheering but he also heard the ghouls cruel laughter,

"Bwahahaha! You think something like this will shake me up!" The ghoul spat "It doesn't hurt at all because I'm used to it hahaha!" And to Kaneki's surprise one of the ghouls eyes turned a familiar black and red colour but the other eye stayed the same, it was as Kaneki feared, he was facing off another One-eyed ghoul.

This was bad.

Suddenly the new half-ghouls kagune appeared from his should blades, it was a Ukaku and to Kaneki's shock it sliced his rinkaku in half realising the white haired ghoul and Kaneki felt shiver run up his spine. Why did this Ukaku look so familiar? But he could focus on that later, he had his two students to think about.

"Shirazu, you and Saiko need to take Hayahimura-san and run!"

"But Torso…" Shirazu started but Kaneki didn't care at this moment,

"Hurry up!" He cried out as Kaneki blocked another attack "For now just go!" So without further augment the three investigators ran leaving to two half-ghouls to fight. Shirazu didn't know which direction they were going but since he hadn't bumped into Mutsuki or Urie he assumed they were going to the place he and Sasaki…or Kaneki where heading to earlier.

They ran until they were out of sight but stopped until Hayahimura heard the familiar beeping in his ear, he turned on the device, and it was from Washuu. "This is Hayashimura from Oshiba squad…"

"What are you doing?" Shirazu asked but he was ignored,

"I'm currently grouped with Mado's squad rank 3 Shirazu and Yonebayashi! We have ran into two ghouls fighting and we have taken refuge".

"And who are the ghouls fighting?" Washuu asked suddenly curious, why two ghouls would be fighting when they had the CCG to worry about? It didn't make sense.

"It's the SS rated ghoul Centipede" I'm not sure about the ghoul he's fighting but I think he's S rated or above"

Centipede? Another above S rated ghoul? How did those two mange to slip in? Washuu thought suddenly worried, this was not as he predicted. Centipede hadn't been sighted for almost four years so why was he here at the auction at all places, why today?

"Rank 1 Hayashimura" Washuu started "This unknown ghoul, we will go with the temporary rating of SS, we will let the two ghouls fight it out hopefully they will destroy each other if not we will let one of ghouls destroy the other while we get a squad together to take out the victor"

"Y-yes sir" Hayashimura nodded nervously, Shirazu who lost his ear piece couldn't work out what was being said but judging by Hayashimura it didn't sound good.

"And rank 1 Hayashimura" Washuu continued "You're the only one alive from Oshiba squad, join with Mado squad and head to the 3rd floor once again"

Hayashimura face sudden paled and his eyes where widened, Shirazu took notice on this and was suddenly filled with fear, what the hell was being said though that ear piece?

"Roger" Hayashimura said and switched off the device,

"What's going on?!" Shirazu demanded to know as he stepped in front of the rank 1 investigator "who was that? What do you look so scared?"

"It was Commander Washuu" Hayashimura solemnly as he tried to get his wits together "He has ordered that we go back to the 3rd floor and look for Nutcracker…"

"What?!" Shirazu gasped "That's crazy that chic destroyed you're squad what can a rank one and two rank three's do?"

"And what about Sasaki-sensei?" Saiko asked clearly as worried as the rest of them but Hayashimura wasn't having it, he was the higher rank and if he was going to lead these rank three's he had to make the situation clear,

"First off…" Hayashimura started "There is no point worrying about that ghoul he either dies at the hands of that other ghoul or he dies in the hands of the CCG either way the end result is the same, that is what Washuu ordered"

"But he saved…" Shirazu was interrupted by Hayashimura who put his hand up in a stop motion,

"I know you think you owe this ghoul for saving you're life and you seem to have realized that he was the teacher you were meant to be investigating at the college" Hayashimura said "But don't forget he is Centipede and his real name is Ken Kaneki so I would just forget about Haise Sasaki altogether"

"But Washuu's order to just leave the two ghouls to beat the crap out of each other" Shirazu argued back "It's wrong! What type of commander is he?"

"First off he's a special class member and one of the Washuu's at that!" Hayashimura snapped back "Nobodies like us can't speck their mind to them...We are heading for Nutcracker…."

Xxx

Further away off where two half-ghouls stood facing each other one with white messy hair while other was black haired and masked with kagune out at the ready "You are a good teacher aren't you, letting your students escape…" The white head said, a smile gloating on his face "I had a boss like that once so I can't hate that, why don't you take off the mask? I already know who you are and I would like to see the pain on your face as I feast on your raw chicken fat!"

Kaneki refused to respond he just stared at his opponent awaiting any small signs of attack, surly this ghoul wanted to do more that chit-chat.

"You're not very talkative are you?" The white haired ghoul said with a shrug "How about we talk about secrets, just you and me…"

Xxx

Meanwhile a couple of miles away from the college two humans watched the computer screen with worry and interest Hide was desperate to know what was going on, first the tracker showed that Kaneki and Hinami where in the same room now they were on different sides of the college! It was frustrating, Hide just wanted to grab his quinque and go to battle right now so he could find his two house mates but he had to restrain himself.

The CCG would notice an orange head like him running around the college besides there were some people in the CCG he would rather avoid. But if nothing happened soon however…

"Hey Hide-kun can you here knocking?" Chie who was sitting beside him asked he noticed the small woman was right, he could here knocking but why? It wasn't coming from the front door it seemed to be coming from below? But how this was the ground floor unless…

Opps, Hide thought. He had forgotten about Nishio! It was time for his coffee!

"Oh yeah…" Hide said forcing a smile looking at the clock it was now coming to 11 o clock "Nishio should be thirsty I was meant to give him some coffee an hour ago".

"You forgot about him didn't you?" Chie smirked looking very much a like a small cat,

"Y-you can't blame me!" Hide stuttered a bit annoyed "I'm worried about my friends you know!"

"Of course you are" Chie smiled with a shrug "But you know if Hinami and Kaneki don't find each other soon one of us is going to have to go in there right?"

"And that someone is going to be me isn't it…" It wasn't a question but more like a statement as he prepared Nishio's coffee, he started at his quinque that was sat lying on the other sofa. Was it going to come in handy once again or maybe having Nishio in the basement might have its uses…

 **This chapter feels a little short but I thought this was the best place to stop. So will Nishio and Hide join the battle? Where is Torso? What is going to happen to Mutsuki? Honesty Urie is such a jerk I will have to punish him in later chapters Muhahaha!**

 **So it looks like we have started the fight between Kaneki and Seidou, seriously I'm surprised I didn't think it would begin in this chapter but oh well the sooner the better I suppose.**

 **I'm going to try to make the next chapter a little longer as well because seriously we have a lot to get though. I think in the next chapter I will concentrate a bit on Hide and Nishio I can't keep the poor guy in the basement though out the fanfic can I (Seriously guys admit it, you all forgot about Nishio lol).**

 **As always I thank the reviewers Flowering Lotus, nissangtrlover2569, Guest and** **sammillar. Really your reviews make me so happy it's something to look forwards to every time I post a chapter. I guess what! We have 68 followers! Let's try to push that number to 70!**


	19. Auction Arc: Insanity

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 19: Insanity**

It didn't take Urie long to find the entrance to the sewers, the first thing he did when he got to the familiar college entrance was open the door to be greeted by the horrid sight of the dead bodies, one a ghoul but most where investigators. May of the victims where headless and blood stained the white floor tiles that the cleaners would never be able to scrub out. But he couldn't think about that at the moment what was on his mind was who had done this and when? Being careful not to step on any bodies Urie made his way towards the front desk where many papers and documents were filed. It only took a second to break the lock on the draws and find a map of the entire building and underground, this was the map the college wouldn't hand out to students. Quickly studying it the investigator smiled when he saw that there was a door that leads to the sewers if you went to the back of the janitor's room which was only around the corner from where Urie was.

Smiling Urie set off but not without accidently kicking the head of Hina Togi that ended up rolling across the floor and hitting the door of the lift like a football. Urie frowned saying a quick apology and made his way to his destination meanwhile trying not to throw up. But he couldn't worry about the woman, she was dead now because she was weak, she couldn't live up to the power of Kuki Urie, none of those dead fools could. So with a heavy ego Urie pressed on until he was where he was now, in the sewers.

The sewers where bigger that Urie expected, than ran right under the college and not only that they ran under some of the other building as well. But the scale wasn't important right now. Urie was hiding in the darkness of the ceiling clinging to the pipes, the sewers travelled too far down that made the ceiling high and Urie unnoticed. Urie figured that these sewers where built big so workers could move new equipment down here which was pretty cleaver but right now the sewers where being used as a hide out for the ghouls who had escaped the auction which to Urie surprise wasn't many maybe a couple of hundred or so which was odd considering what there where listed to be over 700 on Nutcrackers list. There were also quite a few Aogiri members scattered about who looked like they seemed to be waiting for something, a sign maybe?

But there was one big problem, where the fuck was Big Madam? He tried to stain his ears listening to the ghoul's conversations for clues or hints but all they did was complain about the smell and how they haven't got their 'merchandise' yet.

Maybe Big Madam was further way off, she was like royalty in the Madam world after all so she probably had her own privet space with servants and Aogiri guards protecting her but if she was somewhere deeper into the sewers he would have to get past all these ghouls. But to Urie surprise he heard shuffling to his right, he gripped his case and shot his head to the right expecting to find a ghoul getting ready to pounce on him but he was only half right someone was creeping up on him but it wasn't a ghoul.

"Suzuya!" Urie gasped but the small investigator quickly put a figure to his lips and shushed him. He looked down again to see if any of ghouls had noticed, they hadn't.

"Why are you here?" Urie asked in a whisper as Suzuya crept close,

"I followed a small group of customers that managed to escape and ended up here" Suzuya explained "Since there is so many Aogiri members I have to wait for reinforcements"

"Yeah that's seems to be the problem…." Urie said looking down, around seven hundred customers invited to the auction yet only a couple hundred here and loads of Aogiri members, the cogs in Urie's brain where turning as the pieces where slowly fitting together. He wondered if Suzuya had worked it out yet?

"Hey I dropped my transmitter somewhere" Suzuya started "Can you contact the headquarters?"

"Sorry I lost mine too" Urie lied, if it's just Suzuya he wouldn't mind splitting the credit in half with him but there was no way in hell he was calling back up. A few times in this raid he had chances to get that award only to have it taken away and no way was he letting it happen again.

"Look!" Suzuya gasped and Urie looked down to see where he was pointing, Aogiri members seemed to be leading some of the ghouls further down the corridor and the noise of a grip being opened sounded though out the room, it seems that the ghouls have found a way out.

"I know we are short on manpower" Suzuya started getting ready to jump "But we can't let them get away!" Urie was impressed, the small detective had just took the words right out of his mouth. He jumped after Suzuya and the two landed a few feet away from the ghouls. The customers stopped in surprise, there were Doves but only two of them?

Suzuya looked around, particularly at the hooded Aogiri members but he couldn't see any sign of Black Rabbit, what was that ghoul doing?

Xxx

Meanwhile back in the courtyard Naki was defeated, he fell to his knees as white coated Doves surrounded him, his friends and followers where gone and the only thing he could do was let silent tears falls. Everything was silent for that few seconds until the group of investigators were forced to retreat as purple and red shades from a certain Ukaku fell to the ground above them just barely missing some of the investigators but a couple weren't so lucky.

Naki looked up and on the roof and there stood the familiar figure of Black Rabbit, also known as Ayato. Somewhere off in the shadows Hinami smiled feeling that Naki was in safe hands but now she had to get far away from the courtyard as possible, she couldn't waste any more time.

Xxx

In the third floor of the college there is a room that controls all the security cameras in the college, this was the room Shirazu, Saiko and Hayashimura were heading. Now and then they ran into a few Aogiri members which were easy to take down, they ran past the dismantled bodies the Oshiba squad it was hard not to throw up Saiko a little panic attack and Shirazu had to carry her on his back just to get her away from the blood. Now the three stood outside the control room, the door was slightly open and they found a young woman with silky black hair with her pale skin exposed in her black outfit but in Shirazu's eyes she might as well be naked and he felt sweat run down his neck and his face blush.

So Hayashimura was right Nutcracker was I the control room, which makes sense since you could watch the battle from the security footage but the way she was mumbling 'two hundred million' Shirazu assumed that she was looking for something…or someone but that didn't matter maybe they could give a surprise attack but as soon as he and Hayashimura exchanged glances for the attack Nutcracker noticed.

Shit.

"Now!" Hayashimura cried out as the three investigators barged into the room, Nutcracker leaped onto the computer monitors and Shirazu charged in for the kill, the orange haired investigator had raised his quinque and leapt into the air,

"Rank 3 don't jump!" luckily Hayashimura's warning was heard a second before Nutcrackers detached kagune could piece right though Shirazu's middle, he leaped away just in time but the kagune cut his side. Shirazu winced in pain but he couldn't let that stop him, he turned to face Nutcracker who was eyeing him with interest.

"Haha you're a lively one!" She smiled teeth showing in her huge hungry grin "I can already feel your…" But Shirazu wasn't listening he was looking at the kagune attached in the wall and wondered how the ghoul could of done that or more importantly how many kagune did she place into trap?

He was late to notice that Nutcracker had already pulled out her bikaku charged for the attack but luckily Hayashimura was faster, before he could blink the rank 1 investigator was already in front of Shirazu with quinque out and blocked Nutcrackers attack.

"Rank 3, listen carefully" Hayashimura said but keeping his eyes fixed on the ghoul "She was two kinds of kagune, a bikaku and koukaku and it seems that her bikaku can be detached and used for trapping the walls"

"Yeah I kinda already knew that!" Shirazu snapped getting into battle position ignoring his still bandaged hand, it still hurt but as long as he could hold a quinque he was fine, Nutcracker already had both kagune's out and the chances of survival where looking bleak.

"Rank 3 Yonebayashi!" Hayashimura turned to the female investigator "Watch my back ok!"

"Err…" Saiko suddenly looked pale and her words came out like stutters and stammers, Saiko knew it herself she was useless. She held her quinque, the Bokusatsu No 2 in her sweating and trembling hands, Sasaki-sensei said that she couldn't hold a quinque right but why did that matter as long as she could swing it? Right?...Er maybe she could hide behind the bin again and cheer them on instead?

Shirazu charged first but she easily blocked it with her bikaku but Hayashimura was already running behind Shirazu, lifting his own quinque up to bring it down on Nutcracker's head but the koukaku blocked that attack too. The two investigators back off and tried to get from each side but Nutcracker was faster and prepared. She swung her bikaku around slamming Hayashimura against the wall and aimed at Shirazu who just managed to roll away just in time.

Now the rank 3 investigator and the S rated ghoul stood face to face with each other Shirazu tried not to panic, nether him or Hayashimura had been able to land a hit on her, it was that bikaku she was swinging around! If he could just cut it off he was sure koukaku wouldn't be much trouble but did he have the firepower to do it?

Right now Nutcrackers bikaku aimed towards Shirazu, he dodged again and the end of the kagune sank into the wall using that she swung herself backwards away from Shirazu who was watching her magnetized but was snapped out of the daydream when Nutcracker lifted herself into the air and shot down towards Shirazu. The investigator saw the sole of her boot drop closer and moved out the way just in time before Nutcrackers boot could smash between his legs.

Shirazu scuttled back with his hand on his heart trying to control his breathing, he thought he would have to start calling himself Miss Shirako for a second there.

"Shirazu are your jewels intact?" He heard Saiko call out from somewhere, the girl was probably hiding which was no surprise to Shirazu.

"Fortunately…" Shirazu answered as he turned back towards Nutcracker whose attention was now on Hayashimura who already had quinque in hand and was heading towards the ghoul but the rank 1 investigator didn't look so good, Shirazu had to help but with Saiko having zero combat skills and between himself and Hayashimura could they really win against this S rated ghoul? Shirazu knew this wouldn't end well but he had to try.

The orange head investigator moved towards the battle between Hayashimura and Nutcracker but before he could take three steps a small part of the wall started to crumble and a large sharp shape of a kagune burst though the wall, Shirazu gasped it was like the bigger version of what pierced though hand only a few days ago but this thing looked like it could rip though his entire body.

He looked back at the battle between Hayashimura and Nutcracker, the ghoul was lashing her quinque towards Hayashimura with great speed and power while the investigator was on the defence blocking the attacks but just how long could he hold on?

Shirazu looked back at the detached kagune still in the wall, just how many did Nutcracker set up and is Nutcracker purposefully extending and retracting them or where they on some kind of sensor like the time he was in Nutcrackers flat?

A plan began to quickly spawn in Shirazu's head

Xxx

Back down in the sewers Suzuya and Urie thought their way through the throng of ghouls, others scrambled about like headless chickens falling on top of each other and crying for help while others had the guts to fight back but only to be slain afterwards but it didn't matter if the ghouls ran or fought back a battle with Suzuya only goes one way doesn't it? Death.

And that is what Urie learnt as he watched the small investigator cut though ghouls chests and head like they were made of butter, he was just so fast…too fast. Urie couldn't lose to that! Getting into the position to run Urie pulled his quinque back and ran slicing five ghouls in the torso, he grinned there was no way he was losing his credit…

The rush, the blood pumping though Urie's veins, his hearting beating like a mad drummer every time he cut a ghoul down, the tension only rose higher and higher like adding more coal to a steam train but yet it was not enough! He wanted more power to match the speed off Suzuya. No! A ghoul's speed like Kaneki's and the same type of strength then he could destroy all these ghouls in one blow including Suzuya. Then he would become the best ghoul investigator nobody's ever seen, he ran along the wall cutting down an Aogiri member. He was the Chosen One!

He turned to where the corridor ran further along into blackness then he looked back at Suzuya who was cutting down ghouls. He knew Suzuya could handle all the small fish but he was going for Big Madam.

Urie was now running towards the darkness keeping an eye for Big Madam in the dim light but it was still too dark to see a long red tentacle craw itself along the floor. Urie was too late to react when this large tentacle shot up towards the investigator like a snake ready to bite, Urie had no time to slow himself down or turn around until the kagune flew its self at Urie piercing him though the stomach lifting him upwards, the investigator felt his back smash against the hard metal ceiling and a mouthful of blood spilt from his mouth but weather it was due to the ceilings impact or the kagune in his gut he didn't have the strength to ponder on it.

Though blurry eyes Urie could see the large shape of the kagune's user under him, Urie couldn't see the details of his attacker but only one ghoul could have such a big shape,

"Your eyes are super cute then they're rolled back into your face" The ghoul spoke in a deep but womanly voice that couldn't only belong to one person "I really want to chew them up..."

Big Madam.

Xxx

Big Madams rating is not just for show, where the thoughts of Associate Special Class Matsuri Washuu as he watched what was going on in the battle though the use of CTV cameras within the safety of his temporary office in the town hall. He had to say this battle was getting very interesting, the last thing he expected was Centipede to join the battle but what was even more surprising that he teamed up with some lowly investigators from Mado squad. This basically confirmed that this Haise Sasaki they were investigating was indeed Ken Kaneki, this was perfect! After four years maybe this new mysterious SS rated ghoul could take down the famous Centipede and if not he could send a certain 'someone' to finish off the weakened half-ghoul, he had already ordered his secretary to make the preparations but now his attention was on a certain purple haired investigator, Kuki Urie.

Well it seemed that at least one of his investigators had the ambition to look for Big Madam and find the rest of the customers, unluckily there were no CTV cameras in the sewers so he couldn't tell how well Urie was progressing. The commander took a sip from his steaming hot mug of tea, this auction raid was going better than he hoped.

Xxx

Mutsuki sat alone in the darkness and shivered, it had gotten colder since the last time he had been outside, or maybe it was the fear giving him the shivers he wasn't sure. But apart from wishing he had brought a coat he also wished he had brought a watch so he could check how long Urie had been gone because it felt like ages since the purple head investigator ran off but that was probably the anxiety talking, making time go slower.

But instead of thinking of depressing thoughts Mutsuki tried to distract himself on thinking about the auction and the situation. According to Sasaki…or should he call him Kaneki? No Sasaki would do…Anyway according to Sasaki the CCG weren't doing so well, a load of investigators had been killed on the second floor and he didn't want to think of how many had been killed since then. But of course with Washuu taking command of the auction quite a few deaths were to be expected.

He also tried to think about the auction as whole and how the Madams had set it out. He remembered reading though Nutcrackers file before it was 'miss placed' and it read that over seven hundred ghouls were attending the auction and remembering when he went on stage it certainly looked that way but how could you hide seven hundred ghouls in the sewers (if what Torso said was true of course) and it's likely the CCG haven't discovered that yet. But still…

There's defiantly something strange with this battle.

Suddenly Mutsuki turned to the sound of strong footsteps coming from his left where Urie had disappeared too, was it him? Had he come back? But then why could she only hear one pair of footsteps because wasn't he meant to be bringing the medical squad?

Mutsuki turned his head slowly to left hoping beyond hope that it was Urie but the problem was that Urie didn't wear a leather jacket with a hood nor did he have the body shape of a female and nor did he wear a white rabbit mask.

Mutsuki's hand shot towards the knife lying on his lap and held it towards the ghoul who was standing only ten feet away. The investigator awaiting for the attack but didn't come, instead the rabbit ghoul tilted its head to the side whether it was in a mocking way or in a thoughtful way Mutsuki couldn't tell.

"Who are you?" The ghoul in a female voice asked, her voice was very strong yet soft at the same time and it felt commanding in a way that Mutsuki couldn't explain.

"My name is Tooru Mutsuki, rank 3 investigator!" He said but he doubt he sounded very threatening, he had heard about an S rated ghoul in white rabbit mask who used to hunt down investigators around Tokyo but he didn't know much about her.

"Mutsuki?" The rabbit ghoul said "You mean the Mutsuki who learns Japanese literature in the college?"

"Yeah…" Mutsuki said slowly surprised that the ghoul would know about such a thing "How do you know something like that?" He asked,

"Do have a teacher called Haise Sasaki?" The ghoul asked ignoring the question,

"Yes I do" Mutsuki answered, he wondered if this was a friend of Kaneki's or an enemy? "Are you his friend or are you a foe?" The ghoul looked taken aback, surprised by the question, it wasn't the type of question you would ask someone who knew your teacher which only means….

"I'm a friend of his" The ghoul nodded "Going by your question you know who he is as well"

Mutsuki slowly nodded "Yeah I do, your friend saved us and if you're looking for him he has gone down to the back of the college with a couple of my teammates" Mutsuki heard the ghoul sigh in frustration, she ran her hands over her hood in thought

"That idiot…" She grumbled "revealing himself like this!" She turned back to Mutsuki who couldn't see the ghoul's eyes but knew that she was looking straight at him "How many of your friends are with Kaneki?"

"Only two Saiko and Shirazu" Mutsuki answered, if this was a friend of Kaneki's and knew that the half-ghoul had saved them then hopefully Rabbit would spare their lives "But me and my friend Urie turned back because of my leg…"

"Yeah I guessed as much" Rabbit said "Kaneki told me about you being attacked and it explains why you are on the floor but why are you alone and where is your friend? And you do know that there is a medical squad van down at the front right I'm sure you could hobble along there in less than five minutes"

"What?" Mutsuki frowned his eyebrows in confusion "That's no right, the reason Urie left was because we couldn't see the Medical van from here so instead of me slowing us down he told me to stay here while he got the medical squad come to me"

"And how long has this Urie been gone for?" Rabbit asked and Mutsuki thought

"I'm not sure but it's felt like a while" Mutsuki admitted dropping his head to look at the ground but still kept the knife clenched tightly in his hands.

"Well I wasn't lying!" The ghoul snapped "I was in the front a minute ago sure you won't be able to see the medical van from here but if you were on the other side of the college you might be able to" Mutsuki shot his head up stared at the ghoul wide eyes

"But if that's true then Urie should have back by now, something must have happened to him!" Mutsuki gasped a load of endless possibilities of what might have happened to his friend, eaten by a ghoul or kidnaped? But not thinking about the obvious it was Touka who pointed it out,

"Or more likely he ditched you" She said a little too harshly that snapped Mutsuki out of her panicked thoughts,

"No he wouldn't do that!" Mutsuki snapped but it sounded weak to his own ears

"Think about it" The ghoul said "Is Urie-kun the type to forget things or is he the type who likes to be recognised or maybe likes the thought of power?"

"Stop playing mind games with me!" Mutsuki shouted but the words of the ghoul seemed to ring true, he was remembering his and Urie's augment only yesterday and Urie's bad habit of hiding information from the group and how he seemed to think everyone around him was useless, Urie hadn't gone off to fight a ghoul by himself right?

"Look I don't time for this I need to find Kaneki before he does something else stupid" The ghoul said with impatience betrayed in her voice and she strolled over to Mutsuki while his quinque knife was forgotten "Look I can quickly carry you near the medical van then you can make the next ten steps yourself…" But the Rabbit ghoul was interrupted when red and blue shades of an Ukaku came falling down on them, Touka pushed Mutsuki out of the way before one could stab the investigator though the middle.

Touka turned to look at the shade that had nearly crushed Mutsuki and saw that the shape and colour were all too familiar…

"Yo, dumb sister of mine!" A voice of a male called out from above, Touka and Mutsuki looked out to find a figure jumping down from the roof and landing on the ground on the exact same place Touka had been standing previous.

Mutsuki despite his shock examined the ghoul up and down, this ghoul seemed to male wearing a black track top showing the muscle on his arms and he wore black pants and seemed to have the dark red colour of an Aogiri cape tied around his waist and covering his face he wore a black rabbit mask.

Now they were in trouble.

Xxxx

Hide with quinque in his right hand and a cup of coffee and the basement in his left headed down the stairs leaving Chie to watch the computer in case anything strange happened while he was talking to Nishio.

Hide unlocked the door of the basement and opened it slightly to find Nishio resting his back against the wall looking bored as he awaited for someone to open the door for him and Hide suddenly felt guilty of not giving the ghoul a book to read or something while he was locked up here.

"You have you're quinque with you" The ghoul stated as soon as Hide stepped into the room "Does this mean that your half-ghoul pet isn't here to protect you?" Hide frowned,

"Don't insult him Nishio" Hide said trying not to sound angry he didn't fancy a fight with this arrogant ghoul "He's going to auction and fighting the CCG and Aogiri because of you"

"Now we know that's not the only reason" Nishio said smirking as he took the coffee cup from Hide "Even if I didn't come to this town he would of went anyway that's the kind of person Kaneki is, can't keep his noise out of other people's business".

"He's only trying to help Nishio" Hide said but he knew he sounded weak and Nishio picked up on that

"Yeah, to help himself" The serpent ghoul said with a laugh before sipping his coffee "He loves playing the tragic hero, I think we all know his little _problem"_ Hide didn't say anything, there was no point if arguing about it, this is not what he came for.

"I came to ask a favour…"

Xxx

To put everything simply the fight was not looking too good for Kaneki's side, whatever he did to his opponent the white haired ghoul just wouldn't back down and it was getting annoying. The two half-ghoul had danced around each other still in the same area where the investigators had left them and to be honest Kaneki was surprised no more had come already. He would of thought they would send a squad to deal with the two, surely that Hayashimura must have told them?

Even though this new half-ghoul seemed to be a Ukaku type the ghoul didn't seem to be running out of steam, maybe it's because he wasn't using his Ukaku but still the ghoul was fast and incredibly strong that he even pushed Kaneki back a few times and whenever Kaneki took a shot at the ghoul it didn't seem to hurt him. So far Kaneki had used his kagune to stab his opponent in the chest, gut, legs and shoulders but the crazed ghoul would just laugh it off as if it was no more than a pinprick. It spookily remained Kaneki of his younger self after he escaped from Jason's torture chamber, when it didn't matter what attacks were thrown at him, when he would destroy anyone who got in his way and to be honest with himself those two features about him hadn't changed but this ghoul however was on a whole different level.

This ghoul who he was battling now must have been tortured for a lot longer than he had and probably harsher as well, he also thinks that he must have been trained to fight because he had dodged most of Kaneki's attacks laughing and taunting him but he tried to remain focus. But the new half-ghoul wasn't the only one that was annoying, his Kakuja was threatening to form but he held is back and ignored the whispers in his head that belong to a person that shouldn't exist.

' _Use me! Use me!"_ The voice begged and continued to repeat the words like a broken record. But why doesn't he use his Kakuja? If he did he could defeat this pest of a ghoul in on the spot but could he control his Kakuja? Would his powers stop once he finished with his opponent or would he find a new victim? The last time he had used his Kakuja he had nearly killed Hide and that had been nearly four years ago and hadn't forgiven himself for it for giving Hide those scars both physically and mentally.

It was then that the new half-ghoul must off found an opening in his defence because suddenly the half-ghoul was right in front of him with hand reaching out to grab Kaneki's neck and push his against the wall of the college holding him with his feet above ground and feeling the painful pressure on his neck.

"I have to weaken the enemy before I can talk to them" the white haired sneered as he reached his free hand towards Kaneki mask and pulled it down "Now that better…" The ghoul sighed as he examined Kaneki's face that was twisted in a mix of pain and anguish "Now I get to see the pain and horror as I break you apart!" But before Kaneki could kick away from the ghoul he was thrown away from the ghoul and skidded across the gravel like a rag doll.

"Between the first and second there's a huge gap…" The ghoul started to talk as he strolled over the battered up half-ghoul, Kaneki was now back on his feet his throat was sore and hoarse but he couldn't let that stop him since it wasn't the first time he had been nearly strangled to death but he let the ghoul carry on with his speech "Being second is just a consolation for the loser, yes a consolation for them not to think as long as there's someone above them they're nothing but a loser" _The gap between a perfect 100 mark and a 99 is not just one point_ "I want to prove myself now… you were that doctors masterpiece" This made Kaneki snap into attention, he stared wide-eyed at the ghoul in front of him.

"Dr… Kanou?" Kaneki breathed out, he hadn't heard that name for years and it seemed the mad doctor was still conducting crazed experiments. "Who are you?" Kaneki asked but that only widened the new half-ghoul's grin,

"I used to be an investigator…" the ghoul said, now the ghoul was so close to him that he could smell the blood on his breath "My name is Seidou Takizawa" the ghoul smiled as the two half-ghouls where now nose to nose "And I'm the last person you will ever see…but before that lets change the stage shall we?"

Kaneki's arm was then suddenly yanked up by Takizawa and found himself flying up the wall of the college. Kaneki couldn't see because he was trying to stop his head from banging against the wall as was he dragged along but it seemed that his ghoul had the ability to run up walls, well he was fast enough. Kaneki tried to twist out of the half-ghouls grasp but he was too strong and no amount of kicking would do but overall Kaneki was scarred of what would happen if Takizawa did drop him, he didn't know how high they were going and Kaneki felt he had better chance of surviving if he let Takizawa take him anywhere than falling from three floor's.

Finally they stopped and Kaneki was pushed back away from the half-ghoul, Kaneki stayed on his feet feeling wobbly and unstable like he had just come of the fastest and bumpiest rollercoaster in the world and suddenly being dragged onto stable ground. Kaneki could tell that they were now standing on the roof, the cool breeze flying around him as the night stars were his own witnesses.

"Now this is lovely isn't it?" Takizawa said with a sigh as he casually gazed up at the sky "I haven't seen the stars for a long time and it would look even more beautiful with your jelly spilt along ground, oh I know!" The half-ghoul gasped, his eyes widened and his mouth shaped as a round circle as an idea popped into his head "We are both half Kakuja's right?" The ghoul said now looking like a child whose birthday had come early "Why don't we use them and see who is stronger? The Centipede or the Owl…."

 **Note: Peewww that was a hard chapter to write, I felt this chapter was a bit messy but it was getting everyone in the place and we haven't got long left, probably around 5 chapters left until the sequel. It also makes it harder when the QS aren't Quinx so I had to up Urie's and Shirazu's fighting level.**

 **The next chapter we will be finishing Nutcracker Vs Shirazu fight and carrying on with the battle of Owl and Centipede and a little of Ayato and Touka. I know that Kaneki may seem weak in this chapter but I had to make Takizawa stronger or the battle would be finished in less than a minute.**

 **Also as usual I thank the reviewers , tats magicalmcguffins, nissangtrlover2569 and Flowering Lotus. Seriously you guys are amazing I always look forwards to reviews let's try and hit 80 now!**

 **Oh yeah before I forget I got a lovely surprise today because volumes 1 and 2 of Tokyo ghoul came in the post earlier than expected! Honesty they were meant to come next week but I'm not complaining seriously I was screaming with happiness :D**


	20. Auction Arc: Screams

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 20: Screams**

Kaneki watched in astonishment and apprehension as a large form of a kagune started to expand from Takizawa's shoulder blades, it was growing larger and more solid looking than before turning armour like. He watched as the crazed half-ghoul laughed like a manic running his long pale hands and black finger nails all over his face as something black and shinny started to crawl around his eyes and creep up for form spike shapes along the forehead and started to crawl along the middle of his face and down the nose to form a bird like beck spookily similar to Kaneki's own Kakuja mask. The sound coming from the maniacs lips where something between a cackle and a scream, if Kaneki had to descript it, it would be bird like.

This sound made him wonder again where the investigators were, surly they could hear this mad screeching noise coming from the roof so why had no one come running? Unless...The CCG where waiting for one to kill the other so they could take out the winner? If so what a dirty way to play but he supposes he should have expected something like that from a Washuu who's taking command.

It seemed that Takizawa's transformation had stopped, he watched as the half-ghoul took his hands off his face to show his eyes wide in wonderment of the power he felt. Takizawa spread himself out more with hands reaching his the sky and the blade like Kakuja stretching its self out, Kaneki took a small step back to gaze upon the second half-kakuja he had ever seen. Jason had been the first half-Kakuja Kaneki had seen but this one didn't look as bulky but he bet it was fast and just as strong.

Takizawa turned to face Kaneki, his mouth stretched into a grin and his eyes as wide as baseballs. Kaneki could remember a certain CCG investigator describing him as the 'craziest ghoul he had ever met' but obviously that person had never met Takizawa. The way he stared at Kaneki was like a child who wanted to tear his present open but instead this was a ghoul who wanted to tear up his skin and play with his organs.

"SoOooOO what are you waIiiTTtinnngGG for CeNtipPPppede?" the half-ghoul mocked, his words where now becoming more like stutters as he tried to speck though the laughter that was pouring from his mouth. "T-there is noOOooo one HERe to sToP us EkEkkeK" Kaneki just stood there not completely understanding the sentences but just knew he had to act.

He jumped out of the way when Takizawa launched towards him, the Kakuja missed but still the half-ghoul laughed as Kaneki stood there. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" Takizawa screeched, the sound piercing though Kaneki's sensitive ears "WhhhhY don't you use your fucking Kakuja? This isn't A mmoooovvviieee YOU KNOW!"

"I think the last thing we need is two crazy half-kakuja's running about" Kaneki muttered more to himself as he stood face to face Takizawa. If Takizawa was the Owl and Kaneki was the Centipede then in nature the owl eats the centipede so there was one thing for it... Kaneki wasn't going to be the centipede, he didn't need his Kakuja kill this ghoul because the 'owl' seemed to be killing itself...mentally that is and Kaneki seemed to have sanity on his side, for now at least.

Kaneki dodged another attack from Takizawa, the eyepatch ghoul flipped and jumped behind the Owl. Takizawa looked confused for a second until Kaneki pulled out his kagune and aimed for Takizawa's head and with one swoop the head was sliced clean off.

Kaneki smiled, victory was his. Or so he thought. The body stayed standing as the head rolled further away with the crazed smile and mask still in tack. Nothing happened for a while, Kaneki took a step closer but not before wires of veins shot out from Takizawa's neck and reach out to lock its self to the his severed head. Kaneki watched in disgust and fascination the veins quickly dragged Takizawa's head towards the body upwards towards the stump of his neck. The half-ghouls pale hands were placed on either side of the head as it twisted back on to the neck like one of those old Barbie doll when the head would pop off and put back together again.

Then the Owl turned on one foot to face Kaneki once again, Kaneki stared at the half-ghoul in disgust and repulsion. Could nothing kill this guy? Kaneki knew that his own regeneration abilities where higher than most ghouls but he didn't think he could reattach his own head, he had never tried but if it meant becoming as creepy as this ghoul then it wasn't worth it.

Takizawa's grin widened as he took a step closer to Kaneki, he seemed wobbly on his feet but so was Kaneki but he couldn't avoid that, he had to stay focused. So far this ghoul was getting the better of him, nothing seemed to stop him or slow him down no matter how much pain he inflicted on the Owl he would just come back with more powerful. Kaneki bet even if he was to dismantle this monster of all its limbs it would reattach itself like Frankenstein's monster.

"Haha you see Kanekiiiii?" the ghoul jeered "Despite my Ukaku I have the regeneration ability to match a Rinkaku, even one like YOURS!" And with that the Owl launched another attack which Kaneki managed to block with his own kagune, even though he was fighting a Kakuja and the Rinkaku should of broke between them he managed to push the Kakuja back (well this was the Rinkaku which sliced though a Bikaku after all).

Using this opportunity Kaneki grabbed Takizawa by the hair and mustering up all his strength he threw the half-ghoul in the air and he watched as the Owl fell twenty feet away from him landing just on the edge of the roof. Now if Kaneki remembered his layout of the college right if Takizawa fell any further he would have landed on top of the roof of the college hall.

Kaneki marched over to the half-ghoul as Takizawa got up on his hand and knees, looking like an animal that was about to pounce.

"Why are you fighting me?" Kaneki asked as he marched forward "There are many CCG investigators around right now; if you came from Aogiri wouldn't they be happier if you killed more CCG?"

Takizawa looked surprised at Kaneki question but then he broke out laughing again "You really don't get it do youuuuu!" The ghoul grinned "Did really think the Madams would host an auction in this town by chance?!"

"Of course not!" Kaneki snapped back "A certain someone must of told Aogiri where I saw hiding so they get the Madams to plan an auction to lure my interest in hopes of capturing me, I'm guessing that's your job isn't?"

"I don't know?" Takizawa shrugged "Eto just let me of the lead and told me to have fun" The half-ghoul laughed again, now he was back on his feet. "You know I think she guessed me and you would come face to face at some point, probably wanted to see which one of us is stronger! To see if the efforts where wroth it!"

"What efforts!" Kaneki demanded to know.

"Well..." Takizawa started tilting his head to the side "How many Aogiri members do you think there are in this auction?" Kaneki thought before answering, wondering where the Owl was getting at.

"Well when I watched the building before the auction there was about a van full of members but not many" Kaneki answered "Why is that important?"

"Well think about it! Do you think a big organization like the CCG would have trouble with a hand full of ghouls and do you think Aogiri would be stupid enough to send so little followers when there are over seven hundred customers?" Kaneki did notice that however he couldn't find an explanation.

"True" Kaneki nodded "I doubt those rich ghouls would fight for themselves or for anyone...Do you have an explanation?"

The half-ghoul laughed again; there was a wobble to his posture "You really are stupid aren't you! To think I was compared to someone like you! Don't you see it? Only half of the ghoul attending the auction where customers! The other half where disguised Aogiri members!"

"What?" Kaneki gasped, now it all made sense "But why?"

"oooohhhhhh a few reasons" The ghoul smirked and he stood five feet away from Centipede "The doctor still hasn't achieved his 'goal' he still need more test subjects, including YOU!" Takizawa shot forwards towards Kaneki again but he didn't use his Kakuja but instead he used brutal force to knock Kaneki to the ground. Kaneki tried to keep the half-ghoul at bay with his hands and kagune but only at arm reach then to Kaneki's surprise Takizawa bit his blood stained teeth into Kaneki's Rinkaku.

Kaneki cried out in shock more than anything, in all Ken's years of fighting not once had anyone tried tear at his kagune, not even touch it! And with a sudden wave of anger and shock Kaneki yanked his kagune back and slammed it into Takizawa at full force sending the Owl flying past the edge of the roof and even smashing himself though the lower roof, the roof of the college hall.

Xxx

Back in the control room while Hayashimura was fighting Nutcracker, Shirazu knocked on the wall where he had nearly been stabbed with the kagune before. And to no surprise once Shirazu knocked on the wall the same large kagune broke though the wall. He smiled, so he was right, the kagune was on a sensor.

Hayashimura drew back from the fighting landing besides Shirazu and Saiko who was hiding behind one of the broken desks. Hayashimura was breathing heavily and he looked worse than before,

"This is tough!" He breathed out "This is my first time fighting a ghoul with two kagune!"

"Hayashimura. Saiko." Shirazu said turning towards the two "Can you remember the place where that Kagune nearly killed me from before, the one that shot out of this wall?"

He gestured to the wall behind him while Hayashimura and Saiko nodded confused

"Well I need you to lead her there..." But of course Shirazu had no time to explain because Nutcracker wasn't going to wait around. Hayashimura stepped back up, he didn't know what rank three Shirazu was planning but he had to trust him for now, it was their best chance.

Hayashimura took a jab at Nutcracker who jumped out of the way only to be attacked from the behind by Shirazu. Who blocked it with her Bikaku but Shirazu was betting on that now it was time for Saiko to play her part.

"Oii Nuts! Hey! Nutty crack lady!" She called out from the other side of the room, she was waving her arms and Nutcracker turned which was a big mistake because Shirazu and Hayashimura now at his side pushed Nutcracker back with their quinques, pushing against her Bikaku. The ghoul snarled, they had only moved her back by a few feet but that's all what they needed because before Nutcracker could move to attack she was stopped by a large kagune shape smashing out the wall and though Nutcrackers stomach.

Nutcracker as defeated by her own trap.

Shirazu smiled and got his quinque ready in his hand as he strolled calmly towards the consumed and struggling ghoul.

"Exterminating a ghoul as dangerous as you is sure to come with some reward..." Shirazu lifted his quinque up towards Nutcrackers neck "Just how much...are you worth?"

"I...I" Nutcracker struggled to speck as she coughed blood "I want to be...Beautiful"

The smile was gone from Shirazu's face and the whole room seemed to grow quite like they were the only two people in the room.

"Quite saying things..." Shirazu spoke slowly poking his quinque at the ghouls neck "Like you're a human..." and with that the quinque was stabbed though Nutcrackers neck.

Xxxx

Ayato and Touka stood facing each other, Mutsuki watched the two rabbit ghouls seemed to try to stare the other down and he couldn't help but shiver as he was now at the mercy of two S rated ghouls, Mutsuki seemed to get all the luck lately...

"What do you think you're doing here big sis?" The male ghoul asked, his voice was cold matching the winds that rustled though Mutsuki's bones "Shouldn't you be home looking after you're little coffee shop and helping those weak ghouls who think they can live among humans?"

"Shut it Ayato!" The white rabbit snapped but the heart wasn't it "Why don't you go back playing soldiers with your Aogiri friends, you already look like you've killed some Doves so isn't you're job done?"

"Aogiri's plans don't concern the likes of you" The black rabbit, whose name seemed to be Ayato said, to Mutsuki's eyes these two ghouls seemed to be as cocky as each other well they did seem to be brother and sister after all.

"Are you after Kaneki?" The female rabbit asked

"I've got no interest in that psychopath" Ayato said a little too harshly, almost scared in a way "but if you must know I've come for some to collect some little test Doves, unfortunately I accidently had to kill a few of them while defending some reckless idiot but I suppose that girl will have to do" He nodded towards Mutsuki who tried to make himself small besides White Rabbit, he didn't understand what Black Rabbit was getting at, why was he collecting investigators and why Mutsuki.

"Oh..." White Rabbit said with a laugh in her voice "So Doctor Kanou is still creating more failed experiments? He won't make anyone was good as Kaneki, according to him most of the experiments had turned to misshapen monsters who can't understand humans instructions, oh and then there was Kuro and Shiro tell me what on earth happened to them, one died yes?"

"Just get out of the way dumb sister" Black Rabbit said the a sigh in his voice "This girl means nothing to you in fact she will probably turn you in to her bosses if she knew you're identity, think as this as you're little bro saving you're life because you can never seem to protect yourself".

"Fuck you" White Rabbit sneered "You're right I should just hand her over and be on my way" Mutsuki looked up at the female ghoul with pleading eyes, surly after what was said between them she wouldn't hand over Mutsuki like that "However" Mutsuki heart leapt in her chest "If I did that a certain person might never forgive me" and to Mutsuki's surprise a beautiful form of red, yellows purples and blues poured from White Rabbits shoulder blades and he had to admit it was the most stunning Ukaku he had ever seen, it was like fire that had had been trapped in a form of crystals and placed to make a large form a one large angle wing.

"So..." The White rabbit sneered "Do you wanna find someone else or am going to have to fight you"

"Don't do this Touka..." Ayato sighed "I beat you last time and I've gotten stronger since and this time you're 'boyfriend' won't be here to save you" and suddenly the blue and purple Ukaku of Black Rabbit spread itself out and shot shades of crystals towards Mutsuki and Touka who managed to block them her own Kagune.

"Impressive" Black Rabbit whistled as he shot forward and smashed his kagune upon his sisters but still she managed to up and shot her own crystallised shades towards her brother which proves to be bigger and faster than her brothers and the Black Rabbit was thrown back the shades cutting his arms but not enough to hurt him, it was like White Rabbit missed on purpose.

"Next time I will cut right though you!" Touka shouted getting ready for another attack,

"Oh dead sister" Ayato said with a shake of his head and a chuckle in his voice "I was just warming up..."

Xxx

Kaneki jumped after Seidou though the broken roof, the Owl was lying on the stage next to the house but something strange was happening. Takizawa's body was twitching, his body had arched itself and his Kakuja seemed to be forming into something bigger and shaper and it seemed to be healing Takizawa's body.

But Kaneki wasn't going to wait for it to end; he ran up to Takizawa with Kagune out and launched down onto Takizawa stabbing him though the chest. The Owl screamed, blood spilt from his mouth with his Kakuja going wild.

Kaneki stabbed again with the other tentacle and Takizawa screamed again and tried to get up but Kaneki's Rinkaku was piercing him though the floor boards and his Kakuja was starting to weigh him down both physically and mentally, something Kaneki was betting on. Takizawa's Kakuja was now out of control, the user was in a fit between laughing and screaming and the Kakuja was swinging itself around but the Centipede ghoul took no notice. He still had questions.

"Where is Kanou?" Kaneki demanded to know "How how many other half-ghouls are there?" But Takizawa was still screaming and Kaneki just shook his head, there was no use dealing with Takizawa in this state. The crazed ghoul was trying to fight back against the Rinkaku pinning him down and the Kakuja fighting out.

"StOp IT!" The Owl cried, his hands starting to craw at his ever changing Kakuja that was now settling on his chest and his mask started to transform into something like a helmet "JaM jAm JAm JAM, Mummmmmy, dddaaddddyyyyy I'M so-sorrr-y Ma mamam ea-eat, jelly, jelly, jelly, jelly, jelly..."

"Takizawa calm down!" Kaneki cried out trying to pierce the ghoul's hands away from his face using the remaining two tentacles to fight back the mad Kakuja. "Look I know what's happening to you, you need to calm down or else the Kakuja will consume you!" But if Takizawa heard he didn't show it, instead the half-ghoul suddenly shot forward whether that on purpose is unknown but he threw Kaneki off and sent him smashing into the wooden house. Kaneki could feel himself being crushed as the house fell on top of him both wood and metal crushing him and his Rinkaku couldn't shield him, it was too soft due to the RC cells being similar to liquids and fighting back the Kakuja didn't help at all.

Once everything had stopped crashing down Kaneki started to hear rapid breathing noises and the sound of staggering footsteps coming closer and closer, he knew it could only belong to Takizawa. The half-ghoul presence now felt close and he felt a couple of planks of wood shift near his head but he knew better to think that Takizawa would save him.

Opening his eyes Kaneki now stared at the white haired ghoul with large tennis ball eyes underneath his mask which now looked too large for his head and looked like something one of those European knights used to wear in the medieval era and the black hood flowing behind him and the even larger Kakuja made him look bigger and more menacing from where Kaneki was looking, which was from the floor. Takizawa's smile didn't reach his lips as he spoke with venom in his voice but sounded sour due to his screaming a few seconds before.

"This is a nice little stage isn't it?" The Owl chucked and he knelt down on his knees to get a better look at the crushed Centipede under him "And I just had a fun idea...How about we act out a little play? Let's see...Your lines can be "I don't want to die' and 'I want to die after all' but first I want to set up the stage a little bit..."

Xxx

The two rabbits had thought for a few minutes and unfortunately Black Rabbit seemed to have the upper hand. Ayato's Ukaku had transformed from a wing to something like armour that formed over his arms that blocked a lot of Touka's attacks. But if you asked Mutsuki to describe the fight he couldn't because he was already trying to limp away, when he noticed that White Rabbit wasn't going to win. Unfortunately for Mutsuki Ayato was blocking the way to entrance which was the quickest way to the medical van so Mutsuki had to take the long way, back from where he came from.

It was difficult trying to quickly limp away from a fight while having to be quite at the time, he was now twenty feet away and he could hear still the battle of the Rabbits still raging but he didn't dare turn around **(Note: Get those dirty thoughts out of your heads readers!)** Mutsuki used the wall to steady himself it was then he heard something jump from the roof and land behind him, the investigator froze in fear and shock like deer caught and it made him drop the quinque knife.

It can't be one of the Rabbits, he could hear still them still fighting so was this an associate of Black Rabbit? Sadly his fears where confirmed sudden hands reached behind him to cover his mouth and wrap around his waist he struggled but the grip was too strong and he started to panic, was it Torso or that flashy rich ghoul from before? But he was proven wrong when was suddenly turned to face an unfamiliar ghoul wearing a white suit and messy blond hair and round eyes.

"Ayato is very good at predicting his victims moves" The ghoul said with a smile "You can call me Naki because we going to be spending some time together in the near future..."

Xxx

Akira Mado watched as the S rated Three Blades dodged the attack of Akira's Fueguchi One, this ghoul was fast and already killed some of her team mates, plus to make things worse Black Rabbit had showed up out of the blue only to disappear a minute later like a phantom along with S rated Naki.

"Akira!" One of her men shouted towards her "This is bad, Isai squad saw Rabbit heading towards the front of the college and they are chasing after him now"

"Let's go after them" Akira nodded, wondering why the Triple Blades would run.

"Remember" the fellow investigator spoke "Rabbit is proficient in both close and long range so he can adopt to fight at any range"

"Understood" Akira nodded, she was about to move until the distance sound of screams of pain made her stop in her tracks.

Xxx

Meanwhile Hinami had been avoiding CCG members at all cost and she was wondering when her luck was going to run out but still she kept close to the Aogiri members to see if she could listen in to conversation or someone would tell her something. None of them had realized that Hinami was an intruder but she couldn't complain, right now Hinami was sitting alone with Aogiri members around her who had taken refuge on the roof of the second building of the college where the students usually have their sports lessons.

The female ghoul had got a corner to herself and tried to listen on the conversations but none of them where important to Hinami's case. It seemed most of the members weren't bothered about Kaneki besides from killing Doves and wondering why they were at this auction in the first place.

Hinami was thinking about up and leaving besides she couldn't risk staying to long in case one of the leader came and realise she's not meant to be here until she and every other Aogiri member turned their heads in the direction of the main college building to the sound of screaming, a scream that Hinami recognised all too well.

Xxxx

Back in the town hall where Washuu and his officers were watching the battle from computers they instantly realized that there where screams ringing throughout the college that only belonged to one person and all the CCG members seemed to stop in shock and confusion. He ordered his staff to search on the CTV on who was making that noise it was then a voice could be heard, it sounded like the speaker was talking though a microphone.

"haha amazing! A stage, a microphone, the prefect scene, and an audience what more can I ask? Now everyone on the premise and people watching on the CTV can hear me!" The voice sound crazed but almost familiar to Washuu but he could tell this speaker and the screamer from before where two different people.

"We've found the source of the voice sir" One of Washuu's officers said "it's coming from the college hall, where the auction took place"

"Quick get the footage up!" Washuu ordered the officer obeyed and put the scene up for Washuu to see and what he found was shocking, it was a ghoul with messy white hair with a half-Kakuja out which was strangely familiar to Owl's Kakuja, was this the ghoul rank one Hayashimura had told him about? Then the ghoul at the others feet must be Centipede?

"I've made holes in various places!" the ghoul continued now looking down at Centipede "So how about we let your enemies hear you vibrations?!"

It was then Washuu got a call from Mado, he picked it up and Akira spoke with a quiver in her voice which was uncharacteristic for the woman.

"Associate Special Class Washuu" She began "Who is the one specking right now and who was the one screaming is it ghoul?" Washuu didn't answer but sat in silence "Commander where is it coming from? Who was the one screaming? ANSWER!"

Xxx

Hayashimura and Shirazu where resting while Saiko tended to their injures the best she could, "Are you ok rank one Shirazu?" Hayashimura asked and Shirazu nodded,

"Yeah" Shirazu breathed his mind had gone blank after the death of Nutcracker, the three had been sitting there for about five minutes getting their strength back, Hayashimura suggested they call the medical squad right away and rest up but Shirazu didn't want to give up now, it was too soon and he was worried about Sasaki, he knew his teacher was a dangerous SS rated ghoul but he wasn't immortal and he still found Washuu's idea disgusting leader or not.

He was about to suggest this idea when suddenly the sound of screaming reached them. Because these three where on the top floor they couldn't hear what was being said down stairs but the screams and the manic laughter of another came out as clear as day.

"What the hell!" Hayashimura gasped as the tortured screams continued shaking Shirazu to bones, those screams sounded familiar. He looked over to Saiko who was now standing with her eyes wide and blazing with fear, her teeth where gritted together and her face was now pale as snow and the light of the computer monitors made her look worse suddenly the girl bolted to the door.

"Saiko!" Shirazu screamed but already the girl was out the door, he then felt Hayashimura place a hand on his shoulder.

"It's too dangerous to follow her" Hayashimura said "We need to sort out Nutcracker, I can call the squads and tell them what's happened" But Shirazu wasn't listening, he brushed off the investigator and started running after Saiko who must be heading towards the noise of screams because they both knew who that noise belonged too and Shirazu suddenly felt guilty for letting Hayashimura take him to Nutcracker instead of sticking with the person that saved his life.

Shirazu was going to find the source of the noise; he was going to find Sassan.

 **Important Notes: I'm sorry if this chapter a bit short and took longer to update but college has started back and it's been a bit stressful and hectic I should be able to update better once I've got into the routine of things. I know some of you might have been confused on some of things which happened in this chapter but let me explain,**

 **Firstly what Seidou said about the auction to Kaneki, what he meant was that the auction was basically a trap for Kaneki and the CCG. Only less than half of those 700 ghouls attending the auction where actual customers, the other half was Aogiri members who really had no interest of buying anyone it was just so they could fool the CCG and Kaneki on how many numbers Aogiri where gauging the auction. Understood? This is so they can capture more experiments for** **Kanou and maybe get Kaneki, so they wanted the CCG to come on purpose basically.**

 **Secondly the thing with Ayato and Naki: Ayato ran away with Naki after killing some Doves and they saw Touka with Mutsuki, Mutsuki is an easy target (which sadly has been proven alot) and Ayato guessed Touka wouldn't hand over Mutsuki like that so while fighting her it was Naki's job to take Mutsuki what will happened to Mutsuki is still yet to be seen.**

 **Thirdly before anyone asks (because I bet someone will) how could Kaneki fight off** **Seidou without a Kakuja? Well basically it was Seidou's own madness which was letting him down, he doesn't have total control of the Kakuja and Kaneki bet on that so that's why he managed to put up a good fight.**

 **If you have more questions please don't be afraid to review and ask because I don't bite and hardly get angry LoL**

 **Speaking of reviews ONLY 2! Oh come guys I love reviews they make my day and its rewarding hearing someone's thoughts on my story after writing a chapter a week because seriously it's not easy and they really encourage me! And we are nearing the end, probably around 4 chapters left.**

 **Oh well I would like to thank tats magicalmcguffins and nissangtrlover2569 for reviewing the last chapter ;)**


	21. Auction Arc: Saviours?

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 21: Saviours?**

Back underground Urie groaned when he felt himself drop, he thought this was death and that the darkness was making fall into the pit of hell but he was not far off as the only difference was that he was alive, barely. He cried in pain as his chest hit the hard metal ground only making more blood gush out. All Urie could smell and taste was his own blood, it was like iron and felt disgusting but he didn't have the strength to move. He could feel the presence and hear the heavy footsteps of Big Madam, in panic the investigator tried to get up but his vision was covered in red blood and his strength was failing on him, besides he didn't know where he dropped his quinque.

He cried out in frustration, it wasn't meant to end like this, it couldn't! He was meant to be the victor, be awarded but instead he felt large hands picking him there were also voices but his senses where too muffled to make them out but Big Madam was shouting something at one of her servants, argument perhaps? It didn't matter anyway because the investigator couldn't do anything, all he felt was himself being lifted higher, he blinked the blood from his eyes and he was greeted by Big Madam's chubby round face and her large teeth and foul sent of her breath coming closer and closer under he was greeted by red darkness.

Xxx

"No one will come to help you know?" The Owl ghoul said as he perched himself on top of the rubble of what was once the wooden stage house, he looked down at Kaneki still trapped under wood and iron unmoving and dark red blood pasted where his eyes were meant to be.

Kaneki's twitched in pain and fear, the feeling of having his eyes gorged out was not much different to when Arima stabbed him though the back of the head and though the eyes and it was giving back horrid memories of blindness and confusion but the only difference was that there was no one here to save him.

"You're cute" Takizawa continued, he sounded clearer and more calmer now but he was still just as crazy, unknown to the two half-ghouls a certain investigator who goes by the name _Saiko_ Yonebayashi had just snuck in and was listening behind the back seats "I can sympathize with you because after all, that's just how the CCG works. They let two ghouls tear each other apart then get rid of the weakened victor, there is no honour when it comes to the law and government in fact they are no better than the ghouls they kill"

"Tell me..." The crazed half-ghoul carried on "what is it like pretending to be a human, befriending them, teaching them...I wonder how they would react if they knew you're true identify, be disgusted? Betrayed? They won't want to be your friend anymore and you're students won't look up to you anymore, seriously what's your reason for existing? The least you can give me is a reason"

Saiko felt herself crying at the crazed half-ghoul's words; surely they wouldn't throw Sasaki away like that, not after being such a good teacher? And being such a nice person? Her hands were shaking in fear and anger; she wanted to do something, anything to help no matter what Sasaki did in the past he didn't deserve to be in pain. The young girl then heard a different voice, one in pain but sounded softer.

"...Don't want..." The voice coughed, it was Kaneki "I don't...Disapp-"

"Ahhh..." The ghoul interrupted, Saiko could swear she could hear a smile in that voice, "So that's as far as you go...I'll eat you for dessert then!" Suddenly from behind Saiko the door smashed open, the young investigator leaped away, she looked up at a red hooded ghoul but she wasn't wearing a mask and to her surprise she recognised the ghoul as Hinami Sasaki. Then a Rinkaku of a pale yellow colour shot though the ghouls back towards Takizawa lashing the ghoul out of the way and then wrapping itself over Kaneki and lifted him off the floor and towards her awaiting arms.

Takizawa grained his compose and looked up at the newcomer.

"You're getting my way little girl..."

Xxx

The two Rabbit ghouls where back to facing each other once again and out of the two ghouls Touka was the most tired out but Ayato was not unscarred either, he had to admit that his sister had put up a better fight than last time but he was still stronger and he knew there was no reason for this fight to continue, the 'Girl' had already disappeared so Naki must of done his job right.

"Just go Touka" Ayato said "you're only hurting yourself, besides look behind you your little friend has gone" Touka look behind and it seemed that her brother wasn't lying, Mutsuki was gone.

"I don't have time for you!" Touka snapped as she was about to sprint off, there was no use fighting if the person she was protecting had disappeared she wanted to find Kaneki but she also wanted to find Mutsuki, the kid had a bad leg after all .

"Nor you lousy sister" Ayato said with a tired sigh, secretly glad the fight was finished "however don't bother looking for your friends they are already at Aogiri's mercy besides its the Doves you need to worry about..."

"Wha-?" Touka was about to ask what he meant until she could hear a crowd of footsteps surrounding them from both sides but she didn't bother to look at the white coated men and woman that would only make her angry, besides she need to get out of here fast her brother was already disappearing over the roof top and so was she.

The White Rabbit shot up using her Ukaku to give her lift off, the investigators shouted ordered and tried to attack but she was already on the roof and she could see her brother running not too far ahead of her. The young woman ran faster to catch up with Ayato,

"You know where Kaneki is don't you?!" Touka shouted as she caught up with her brother "Just tell me where he is!"

"Didn't you hear the screams from before sister?" Ayato spoke, his tone was deep and sad "You probably thought is belonged to a far off battle but really they were the screams of your half-ghoul friend, it seems one of Kanou successful experiments has overpowered him..."

"I-I don't believe you!" Touka snapped and the two Ukaku ghouls stopped and Ayato turned to face his sister with annoyance in his eyes

"If don't believe anything I say then why do you bother asking?!" Ayato said snapped coldly making Touka flinch "Look I think those noise came in the direction of the college hall so go there if you don't believe me" He pointed straight forward, to the north where the hall was then he turned to East "and stop following me as well, I've been away from Aogiri long enough!" and with that he went his own way leaving Touka to go with the only lead she had. She had to forget about Mutsuki for now, Kaneki was the most important so she headed north.

Xxx

Urie could feel Big Madams large teeth grinding on his upper body, although it was embarrassing for the investigator as he screamed lashed out with what little strength he could. The chamber he was in smelt of rotten flesh and decay, not really the most glamorous place to die but Urie was without strength or weapon and it agonizing having the ghoul slowly rank her teeth on him and awaiting for the ghouls large teeth to crunch down on him destroying him for good.

Suddenly the sound crashing caught his ears and the grinding stopped, there was suddenly a sensation of bumping forwards and then he felt himself falling backwards away from the hot red cavern of Big Madams mouth and into the fresh cold air and landing into a messy heap on the floor.

Urie blinked open his eyes enjoying the air and to see what had made Big Madam drop him. He couldn't see the giant ghoul anywhere but he saw shapes of black coated men jump over him and he could here shouting and running footsteps yet no one paid him any mind but Urie wasn't complaining, he just wanted quiet and to wallow in his misery and embarrassment on his own, he didn't need pity.

The fight was still going on but he took no heed to the words being said nor did he notice when someone put a tissue of chloroform to his mouth and found himself pass out like a light.

Xxx

In Saiko's eyes Hinami looked strong and composed as the girl kept her eyes upon the enemy keeping her wrecked up brother close to her wrapped in both arms as she drew her Rinkaku back towards her. Saiko shivered under the female ghoul's eyes and found herself feeling lucky that all that anger and hatred wasn't directed at her. Saiko wasn't sure how long she had seen staring until Hinami's voice rung out directed at the investigator,

"Yonebayashi-san!" She called out "Quick besides me!" Saiko was surprised, she didn't even know Hinami noticed her presence but she dare not argue as she saw the half-Kakuja ghoul draw back his Ukaku and Saiko knew he was going to attack. So without hesitation Saiko leaped towards Hinami going through the open space in her Rinkaku and pressed herself close the female ghoul and Kaneki.

"MOVE!" The Owl screamed as he summoned large sharp crystals from his Ukaku to send them crashing down upon the trio, Saiko couldn't look and covered her eyes in fear waiting for the hit to come and pierce though her body but it never came. The investigator moved her figures to peck though the gap and she saw to her astonishment blurs of yellow and red moving at fast speed around them, it was knocking away the Kakuja ghoul's crystals like flapping away flies and it could only belong to Hinami's Rinkaku.

Suddenly the attack stopped and Saiko felt a heavy weight shift to her lap, Hinami was pushing Kaneki onto Saiko's lap "Protect him!" Hinami ordered as she stood up straighter and stepped forwards to face her opponent.

"Now who are you?" Takizawa sneered as he looked up at the young ghoul who stood fearlessly "A friend of the half-bastard perhaps? It doesn't matter, I just wrecked one of the wanted ghouls in Japan and now I'm going to wreck you!" Takizawa released more sharp crystals and aimed towards Hinami who leaped out the way onto to seats. Saiko ducked and was lucky that none of the crystals stabbed neither her nor Kaneki but the wall instead.

The investigator looked back up towards the fight and she had to admit she was impressed by the ghouls speed, Hinami ran across the edges of the seats as Takizawa fired attacks but luckily Hinami was able to dodge and knock the crystals off with her kagune. She thought Hinami was doing quite well until she looked down at Kaneki and the sight upset her more than she thought.

The half-ghoul was blinded with no eyes but blood and its place, his kagune had disappeared and his clothes where torn in several places and his black hair was matted in blood and his body hung limp on Saiko's lap. The young investigator had to check his pulse to see if he was still breathing because he looked dead.

It was then she looked back to the fight with Hinami.

Kaneki was meant to be an SS rated ghoul, he was Centipede, the most wanted ghoul in Japan, the ghoul that got away from Arima besides the One-Eyed Owl. Yet this crazed ghoul beat him and turned him to a mess of blood and injures, how could Hinami beat someone like that? What where her chance of destroying someone her brother couldn't? It was then Hinami had stopped at the edge of the stage with all four Rinkaku's spread out large and powerful, even Takizawa had to double take. And Saiko stared in astonishment as the Rinkaku slashed into Takizawa's insides, the half-ghoul screamed loudly making Saiko cringe as the Owl fell with a thump on the ground and Saiko gasped in disgust as his left hand fell from his body.

But unfortunately the battle wasn't over yet.

As Hinami stood tall on the stage Takizawa's Kakuja was healing his body rabidly, the half-ghoul push of the ground with his feet and his back in arc as his hand started to grow back leaving the severed one untouched. "IT HURTS, IT HURTS!" The half-ghoul screamed, his voice rapid and dry like sandpaper as he spoke "You sure are strong little girl, I underestimated you…"

Meanwhile Ken found himself turning awake, his eyes had grown back and he weakly blinked the dried blood from his new eyes, his vision was still unfocused but he could here fighting going on somewhere nearby he should of felt cold and scared but instead he was warm and felt comfortable despite the pain stinging in every inch of his body.

He tried blinking more blood out of his eyes, his arms where too weak to move but though the red vision he could see blue, blue hair and a pale face with large blue eyes. It took his brain and new eyes a considerable amount of time to progress the image but he realized he was resting on Saiko's lap.

But if Saiko as here then who was fighting Takizawa?

He tried to turn his head to the sound of the battle, Saiko noticed the movement and was trying to tell him something but he wasn't listening but instead he focusing on a red hooded figure on the stage with his back to him and a yellow and red Rinkaku's spread out, it was a Rinkaku he recognised.

"Hinami!" He tried to cry out but his voice came out small and weak, Hinami was protecting him? Against that… _Thing_.

Suddenly he felt his heart leap from his chest in fear as Takizawa suddenly shot forwards, too quick for Hinami to react and using his Kakuja he sent Hinami flying backwards towards the lower seats, the female ghoul crashed through them and the floorboards and all Kaneki could here as smashing and breaking of wood.

"Hinami!" Kaneki called again this time his voice was stronger as he suddenly shot up, Saiko tried to hold him back but he shrugged her off and tried to get to feet but he fell back to knees at the first step and Saiko was back to his side with hands on his shoulders.

"You can't do anything!" Saiko cried with tears in her eyes "she told me to protect you!" She must be talking about Hinami, Kaneki thought as he watched thankful when he saw Hinami's small form crawl out of the rubble and even more pleased when Takizawa suddenly ignored her to get consumed in his own madness.

"AAAAGH, ABE…CrAb CrEAm CroQueTTe!" The Half-ghoul was now on his knees, he pulled at his hair and his head was shacking and nodding like his neck had a mind of its own "HAGUGAGAAAAA…gO BaCK, Go BACK….I SAID ENOUGH! I _**DI**_ _D_ N _'T_ E _ **A**_ T! I _DI_ _ **D**_ N'T _E_ A **TTTTT**!"

Hinami got up shakily to her feet taking a few steps forwars, she looked back at the seats to find her big bother awake and leaning on one of the seats with Saiko at his shoulder, the black haired half-ghoul looked sickly and beaten down as he stared at her though wide begging eyes begging her to run away but she couldn't, not while Takizawa was still alive alive but how she could she beat this thing? Takizawa was strong, he even had beaten her brother the strongest person she knew, it was foolish for her to think that she could win, particularly in her first real fight.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to be home with her brother and Hide safe but already the poor girl was sore and tired and Kaneki was no better but then she heard a voice from above her making her heart stop.

"It's ok Hinami…You did more than what was expected from you" Hinami blinked in surprise and looked up to the hole in the wall to see a familiar shape of a woman with a white Rabbit mask and a beautifully large Ukaku blazing behind her like fire and Hinami suddenly felt warm and hope filled her heart.

"Onee-chan!"

Xxx

Hide and Nishio where standing in the living room getting ready to go to the auction while Chie, like the childish woman she was, bounced on the sofa and cried in a high pitched voice which was getting really annoying.

"I wanna go too!" Chie moaned and he stared up at the two guys "There are so many pictures I could take, why can't I come?"

"Because it's dangerous brat!" Nishio snapped "And someone needs to watch the laptop in case something strange goes on with the trackers!"

"Brat?!" Chie gasped "I'm 24 you know? A little older than you I bet!"

"Then try acting you're age and you might grow a couple of centimetres, brat!" Nishio snapped again, he was honestly getting fed up with this mouse girl and he had no idea why people like Kaneki and Tsukiyama found her useful.

"Can you two stop arguing please…" Hide sighed as he fastened a tracker to his back jacket and threw the other to Nishio "Now our job is to find Hinami, Kaneki and Touka and to bring them back home safely before Aogiri or the CCG find them, in fact they probably have already".

"Even though Hinami and Kaneki have found each other now" Nishio said as he nodded to the computer screen, it seemed that both Hinami and Kaneki where in the college hall yet none of them had moved much and Kaneki seemed still as a statue so he felt as his duty as a best friend he had to go and check it out.

"Yeah we are still going" Hide nodded and he turned to Nishio "Do you remember what we are supposed to do?"

"Yeah" Nishio nodded grimly "Get the half-ghoul bastard, the Touka bitch and the flower girl then we go home"

"And remember we are not going there for Torso, just for are friend's" Hide confirmed but Nishio just shrugged and Hide wasn't reassured but he turned to Chie. "Remember Chie you have to call us if Kaneki or Hinami move from the college hall so keep your eyes on the laptop and no messing around".

"Ooooo someone is getting serious" Chie laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not happy about the situation but it would be too boring if you were to die today"

"Thanks…" Nishio grumbled as he placed his Serpent mask over his face then turned back to Hide "Shouldn't you hide your face too Nagachika? Someone from the CCG could see you and wonder what you are going there"

"Don't worry" Hide smiled "My mask is in my pocket, should we go?" And so the two set off, Hide's mask and quinque felt heavy in his pocket. Even though he wasn't a ghoul Kaneki insisted in getting Hide a mask just in case something like this ever where to happen. Hide remembered getting his measurements getting done by Uta, he wondered how the weird mask ghoul was doing these days but this wasn't the time he needed to save his family and he hoped that bringing Nishio along was a good idea.

Xxx

Shirazu had lost Saiko. For a big girl Saiko could run fast when she wanted to and to make things harder the screams had stopped, which should be a good thing but now he couldn't follow the sound. He sighed in frustration as he hid in one of the toilet cubicles on the second floor. So far he had passed and avoided both Aogiri and CCG alike, he couldn't avoid to be stopped now and he defiantly couldn't do another fight so when he heard the door to the men's toilets creek open his heart stopped and he lowered his breathing as he put his feet up on the toilet he was sitting on so they wouldn't show under the door but he doubt it mattered because he heard the person sniffing and knew it was a ghoul.

"I smell scared a little human in here…" the voice said, surprisingly it belonged to a female. What the hell was a woman doing in the men's toilets? War or not!

The investigator heard the cubicle five door down slam open, then the forth one, the then the third it was only a matter of time before it came to him. He got his quinque case ready, didn't know how much of fight he could put up after just fighting Nutcracker maybe if it was a normal Aogiri henchman he could win but if it was leader however…

The second cubicle opened then it came to a stop behind his cubicle, looking in the gap under the door he could see a pair of boots and a long red Aogiri cape reaching to the heels.

"I know you are in there?" The ghoul said casually "You're not taking a shit are you? That won't be a pretty sight to see when I kick open his door…" Shirazu didn't know what to do, which was better? Waiting for the door to open and surprise attack or just opening to door himself? But he didn't get the chance to choose when three pieces of a kagune popped out from the top of the cubicle door and come down on Shirazu, he didn't have time to take his quinque out as they were suddenly wrapped around his chest and dragged him out thought the gap at the top of the door making his quinque case drop in the progress.

Once Shirazu was pulled out he came face to face with a bikaku ghoul who was a little short on stature wearing the typical ropes of Aogiri and a mask kinda shaped like a star with a long triangle shape leading up her face and two other triangles shapes to the side. It was Triple Blades.

"Now…" The ghoul said "You're going to be useful…"

Xxx

Like Hinami Saiko and Kaneki also looked up to the voice to find White Rabbit standing in the hole in the wall, Saiko looked confused and scared, the poor human was surrounded by ghouls after all but Kaneki couldn't help but smile, even though he didn't want Touka to fight this crazy half-ghoul he was glad she was here.

He watched the Ukaku ghoul jump down landing on top of one of the seats with her kagune out and ready for battle. Kaneki called out over Takizawa's screaming,

"Touka-chan you can't fight him!" He gestured to Takizawa "he's a half-ghoul and he's stronger than me!"

"Bull-shit!" Touka snapped "this _thing_ seriously beat you?!" He nodded to Takizawa's who was now crouched on the floor crying pulling his hair and his Kakuja going wild again. "You've grown soft Kaneki!" The Rabbit carried on "What happened to your Kakuja? Why don't you use it? If you did then Hinami wouldn't be hurt!"

"If I did use my Kakuja not only would I be tearing him up but Hinami, Saiko and you as well so don't say things you don't understand!" Kaneki snapped "Besides I thought you liked me better being weak and nice, you didn't like me much after my torture did you!" Touka didn't say anything for a second, only the screaming could be heard,

"No you're right I didn't like you after coming back from Jason, but at least you were strong enough to protect you're friends even if it was for your own selfishness" The rabbit was now walking down the rows of seats towards the stage "But look what's happened Hinami she's hurt and for your information Mutsuki has been taken by Aogiri and Urie has gone of god knows where and even that girl next to you has been caught in all this, Saiko right?"

"So tell me what should I do, go berserk and use a Kakuja I can't control?" Kaneki asked now glaring at down at the Rabbit ghoul as she stepped on the stage, the thought of Mutsuki being in Aogiri's hands worried him but for now he couldn't do anything.

"Of course you can control it!" Touka snapped "Look at him!" She pointed to Takizawa, he had quietened down now but his body was shacking madly as he mumbled words without sense "This guy is pathetic, he is broken and it would take miracle to get him back the way he was but you however are different, you escaped from Aogiri, you have friends who love you and to be honest you are insane but that is just apart your personality but you are not evil nor uncaring you won't hurt me nor Hinami or any of your friends, if think different then there was no point to getting stronger in the first place, what was point of eating all those ghouls and creating a Kakuja if you are going to fear it!"

Kaneki couldn't say anything to that, he only stared down at his lap.

"You know…" Touka carried on "This ghoul's Kakuja reminds you of a certain someone doesn't it? I know that Owls are the predator in this situation but maybe for once the Centipede could fight back, maybe he could destroy the Owl from inside…"

Suddenly Takizawa's head snapped up, his wide mix-matched eyes stared up at Touka as he just realized her presence, even though the mask Touka didn't break eye-contact with the deranged half-ghoul, it was like Rabbit that was looking down or laughing at the Owl and the Owl wasn't having it.

"What the fuck are you looking at bunny?!" The Owl sneered as his Kakuja started to rise…

"Onee-chan RUN!" Hinami screamed and just in time Touka leaped to the side before Owl could bring his Kakuja down on her. Kaneki watched in anxiety as the Ukaku ghoul ran towards Hinami and picked her up over her shoulder. Owl picked up the chase and ran towards them, Saiko gasped as the two female ghoul escaped the Kakuja by a hair.

"He's faster than I thought…" Touka mumbled as she ran towards Kaneki and Saiko both now where standing waiting for the two ghouls to run with them, Touka was just about to leap off the stage when suddenly Takizawa was right behind her, nor Hinami or Saiko or Kaneki had time warn Touka as the Owl ghoul made a grab for Hinami's hair and yank her away from Touka's arms making the Ukaku ghoul stop her tracks.

The Rabbit ghoul stopped to turn around to face Takizawa who held Hinami by the hair with his left and using his right he reached to grab Touka's arm, the Rabbit ghoul cried a little as she felt the long black finger nail digged into her skin and her mask fell off.

She struggled against the grip and lashed out with her kagune but there was only so much she could do against a ghoul who can't feel pain and who has the girl she calls her sister as a hostage. She didn't want to hurt Hinami by accident and it only got harder as the Owl pulled the two woman in front of him like shield. Hinami also tried to fight but she was still weakened and shaken by smashing into those chairs and floor, they were turned to face Kaneki who was screaming their names and was now standing straighter as Saiko shook and cried at his side.

"Takizawa what are you doing?!" Kaneki screamed in anger as he watched the two girls he cared about struggle under the half-ghoul's grasp,

"Isn't it obvious Centipede?" The Owl cried in joy as a smile of madness stretched along his face "I want to play a little game with you, one I'm sure you've played before…I'm going to kill one of your girls and your aim of the game is pick which one I'm going to kill!" Kaneki's heart stopped, his hands clenched and shook at his sides and his head was pounding as memories of black and white checkboard rooms and the faces of a mother and her child filled his mind "Or maybe I should put it in a nicer way…Which one do you want be to save? Your sister or your 'girlfriend'?"

Xxx

Meanwhile Hide and Nishio where sitting behind some bushes ten feet away from the front of the college, there were a group of white coated CCG investigators who seemed to having some kind of meeting,

"They are talking about Touka" Nishio confirmed, Hide usually forgot ghoul had good hearing compared to humans in fact living with two ghouls made ghouls seem more human to him, in a strange way.

"Is she ok?" Hide asked,

"She got away from them including her brother Ayato" Nishio answered "They are wondering what they should do now and awaiting orders, I'm guessing Touka went to the college hall that's where we should be going"

"We might have to go through a window or one of side doors since the front seems to be out of bounds" Hide said as he digged into his pocket for his mask, he took it out and Nishio looked at it curiously. He had never seen Hides mask before it was a full face mask that strapped around his head like a belt, the front of the mask was made of thick black leather and was in the shape of the Ace of Spades which was shaped in a way where it cover all the top half his face but show a bit on the bottom.

Nishio wondered why Uta would make such a mask for Hide, it wasn't decorated nor looked like anything special, human or not Uta took pride in his mask making so why create such a plain mask? Hide strapped the mask up feeling nervous, not just about the rescue mission but about wearing the mask in general. The first and last time he wore this mask was three years ago when he first got it but he always hoped it would never be needed. Putting on the mask made him feel like a ghoul or that he was doing something, well harbouring and helping ghouls was a serious crime but still…he felt like he was losing his identity, his right to be out in public but this was important and personal feeling had to be pushed aside, besides there where people in the CCG that he didn't want recognising him...

Xxx

Somewhere far off town a woman wrapped in bandages and a large red rope sat up from her seat as she stared at the monitors in front of her. Watching the battle though the CTV had been interesting and she had seen some surprising reactions and advents, particularly from her two favourite half-ghouls.

Eto grinned though her bandages, her reaction showed clearly under them as she stretched her arms legs due to staying in the same position for a couple of hours. She called one of her remaining henchmen, most where at the auction but she would reunited with them soon enough, watching had been fun but now it was time to play her own part in this.

She asked her henchman to prepare the car, hopefully she could get there in time for the big final…

 **Note: Ok let me make this clear now THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! Some reviewers mentioned in the last chapter how I couldn't finish this in less than four chapter but I don't need to if there will be a sequel, seriously I have mentioned this in past Author Note's its useful to read those…**

 **I know this chapter is quite short but this is final chapter before the final battle of Kaneki Vs Takizawa 90% of chapter 22 will focus on that battle while the remaining 10% will be on Hide and Nishio. I don't know how long that chapter is going to be, its either going to be a two parted chapter or I might just make it into on big chapter, it depends and if the latter happens you might have to wait longer but a bigger chapter is worth it right?**

 **So…What do you think of Hide's mask? If you don't know it's from the '** **Tokyo Ghoul Trump' which was for readers that purchased the first two volumes of Tokyo Ghoul: Re and they are designed as a deck of cards featuring all the character, Hide was the Ace of Spades. It's easy to find images of these deck cards on the TG Wiki site and find your favourite character. Also while doing this it would be useful to look up the meanings behind the decks because Ishida loves his symbolism.**

 **And wow such great reviews! I love you guys seriously you're reviews are really nice and helpful and are really encouraging, its hard writing after just coming back from college and reading them just makes me excited to update and hear your reactions.**

 **I thank Guest, Guest (yes two Guests), tats magicalmcguffins, nissangtrlover2569, CloudCarnivore, Flowering Lotus, PiroWolfxL and narutofreak99.**

 **Seriously keep this up and we are now on 73 followers let's get it to 80 people!**

 **Yeah I have a big ego…**

 **Well look forward to the next chapter!**


	22. Auction Arc: King

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 22: King**

"Or maybe I should put it in a nicer way…Which one do you want me to save? Your sister or your 'girlfriend'?" Seidou's hands where shacking with excitement as he held on to the two woman ghouls, Hinami was trying her best not to tremble with fear while Touka was fighting back all she could without landing a hit on Hinami but this ghoul was a half-Kakuja and the armour was fastened to his body tightly and none of Touka's hits had effects. She turned back up to the rows of seats where Kaneki was standing, the half-ghoul had his head lowered so his dark fringe covered the emotions in his eyes but his hands where clenching so tightly at the back of the seat that the material and wood was starting to break showing either anger or fear. Touka hoped that he wasn't having some kind of mental fit.

But to Saiko who was the closest saw different, she saw the slight grin forming on her teachers face and though his eyes couldn't be seen she was sure they were closed as a slight chuckle escaped his lips and soon enough everyone in the room could hear the half-ghouls mad laughter making everyone quite in shock and disbelief, even Takizawa had nothing to say.

Kaneki had no idea why he was laughing himself but he couldn't stop the bubbles in his stomach and chest raising up. He lean forward a little on his chair and he knew he must have looked like a manic but he didn't care, he knew he was crazy and all his friends knew it too so what was the point of pretending?

"Oh Takizawa!" Kaneki said between his giggles "I'm not sure if I hate you or love you…"

"Huh?" Takizawa's brows narrowed in confusion "Wow you really are as crazy as me when you are put in a certain position, maybe you are laughing in despair at the thought of one of you friends dying?"

"Oh no, oh no!" Kaneki denied shaking his head "that's not what I'm laughing at in fact don't feel any despair what-so-ever because I know I will get both my girls back, what I'm laughing at was the fact I only just realised something that I should of discovered years ago!"

"Oh?" Takizawa said in interest "And what might that be?" Kaneki lifted his head up now to stare at Takizawa with an expression of calm and collectedness, he talked while he moved towards the stairs.

"You see, since I became a ghoul I thought my life would be over, that I wouldn't survive in such a world with CCG after my ass, cannibalistic ghouls and finding food and a lot of times I thought I was going to die and sometimes I wanted to" He was now walking down the stairs towards the stage "So four years ago when I was given a chance to leave Tokyo and start a new life under a new identity I jumped at the opportunity and became a teacher, living with my two favourite people, not having to hunt…life was good but just now I discovered these last four years have been nothing more than an extended vacation"

"Onii-chan…" Hinami sighed, she didn't want to believe the words coming from her brother's mouth, the words she knew her brother wanted to say for a couple of years now.

"I'm sorry Hinami, Touka and Hide if he was here" Kaneki said sadly as he reached the bottom of the stairs "But today has been the most fun I've had in years and it's made me remember a few things, reasons why I can't settle down just yet and why I decided to get stronger in the first place" Kaneki was now on the stage and making his way towards Seidou and the girls.

"But don't forget Centipede" Seidou said smirking "I have these two lovely ladies and if you try to attack I will use them like a knight uses his shield!" Kaneki had to bite down a laugh,

"You know I'm starting to remember who you are now" Kaneki continued "I remember reading the newspaper published on the day after the Anteiku raid, you were on of the list of investigators that were declared dead, Seidou Takizawa rank 2 investigator you were also a class mate of Akira Mado you do know she is here at the college? Fighting a bunch of Aogiri ghoul's maybe you should say hello to her or maybe help I'm sure she would be glad to that your alive"

Kaneki knew that he must have hit a nerve somewhere but he thought for a second he could see tears threatening to come from the psychopath's eyes.

"But of course you wouldn't" Kaneki continued "The CCG couldn't know you were dead because they never found a body, the same with a bunch of other investigators too they must have suspected that Aogiri had kidnapped you all so guess what they did? They brushed you under the rug like dust, pretending you didn't exist and made everyone else think you were gone…"

"Shut up!" He screamed and he held the two ghouls higher in front of them "You are forgetting I could kill any of these girls, take your pick which one do you want to see alive?!"

"No Takizawa it's you who is forgetting what I said earlier" Kaneki said with a shake of his head "I will get both my girls back and that is what will happen and there is one other things as well…That you will always be second best…"

"W-what?" Takizawa stammered, his hands were shaking now and Kaneki couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

"I took the liberty of looking up Akira Mado before I came here, she was a bit of a pain a couple of days ago" Kaneki sighed with a shake of the head "She was always top of the class wasn't she? And you were always turning up second, it's like you said before, there is a huge difference between 100 and 99 it means one of us is going to win and the other is going to lose and the loser won't be me"

"What are you talking about?" The white haired ghoul said before taking a laugh "I've already won! One of these girls will die and if you don't chose…"

"You will kill them both?" Kaneki interrupted the half-ghoul now had his arms crossed and his head tiled to the side in a casual and bored way "how boring, such games like these become tiresome, you probably got this game from a movie or something, and it's the game of a cowardly villain who can't fight"

"I'm no coward…" The Owl snarled but if you were as good as Kaneki you would hear a slight tremor in his voice

"You think you have beaten me" Kaneki continued "and you think you have put me through enough torture than I can bare but you are wrong, you haven't even scratched the surface on what Jason did to me, so would like another go? Maybe I can show you how I defeated that bastard? Your Kakuja adding to mine would make me very powerful indeed"

"Yeah!" Touka snapped with a smirk on her face, speaking for the first time in a while "go on Takizawa, if you are the victor, the 100% winner then you would have no trouble devouring this shit-head" Touka nodded towards Kaneki direction

"SHUT UP!" Takizawa screamed, the sound piercing though the two woman's ear "I am the strongest half-ghoul, Eto sent me here to prove to myself that I am stronger than you, the doctors beloved prototype, that I am stronger than Mado!"

"You're coward!" Kaneki snapped, now his single Kakugan was out shinning black and red glaring at this opponents own mix-matched ones "Put the girls down and let's get serious, this time I won't hold back!"

"Sooooo…you are finally going to show me you're Kakuja?" Takizawa sneered his grinning widening "The one that investigators and ghoul's alike fear, the one I am meant to compete against?"

"If that's what they call it nowadays" Kaneki smiled and he couldn't help but feel glad when the Owl pushed the two girls out of the way and Hinami called out.

"Onii-chan let me help you!" The younger ghoul said hopefully but she felt her heart fall when he shook his head slowly,

"Sorry Hinami" He slightly smiled slightly turning to his sister "I'm sorry for everything and one day I will make it up to you but for now this is something I need to face on my own, it's not just Takizawa but my own strength as well".

"Kaneki…" Touka said sadly, Kaneki turned to his left to face her. The Rabbit ghoul stayed standing strong with her face stone cold but her eyes expressed sadness and loneliness and Kaneki couldn't help but want to make them shine with happiness again or even anger.

"Look after Hinami…" Kaneki started to say then a voice called out,

"Sensei!" Saiko screamed, Kaneki looked up towards the chairs to find Saiko with her arm outstretched and her wide blue eyes filling with tears and Kaneki could only give a sad smile. He knew after this fight his life as a teacher would be over and looking over at Saiko helped him remember the good short months he had spent in this college, meeting students, making friends with his fellow staff members, Honda-san… He couldn't go back now but his only regret was not having the chance to teach a little longer or at least say goodbye to his class and looking at the crying investigator now he was filled with a sense of achievement. He proved that a ghoul could make just as good of a teacher as a human could and he hoped that this is what his students would remember.

"If you are done saying your goodbyes…." Takizawa sneered stepping back,

"I'm not saying goodbye in the sense you think I am Takizawa" Kaneki smiled "Its shame you don't have anyone to say goodbye to everyone in the world already thinks you're dead, and soon you will be…"

Xxx

Hide and Nishio where creeping around the college, making sure to stay behind bushes and trees as they passed it was then Hide felt Nishio's hand grip his shoulder and Hide looked behind him to sniff the air.

"We have company" The Serpent ghoul said softly as Hide pulled his quinque from his pocket and pressed the button for the blade of dull yellows and blues to pop out and for Hide to wield. Nishio didn't bother to take out his kagune but just followed his nose which seemed to be pointing towards Hide "Behind you…" Nishio started to say but suddenly the sound a rustle of brushes hit the back of Hides ears, the human turned and put his quinque up just in time for a dark shape to come straight towards him but luckily Hide slashed it the quinque just in time sending the figure down to the ground.

"You really are good with that quinque" Nishio commented as he strolled over to have a look at the fallen figure. The figure was lying flat on his stomach, the two men assumed it was a ghoul due to the red Aogiri rope draped over his body. The ghoul groaned in pain and Hide suddenly felt a little bad, this was obviously a low rated ghoul for it to be cut down so easily or it must have been injured already.

"He smells familiar…" Nishio started as marched and knelt down beside the ghoul and lifted the hood up and yanked the ghoul by the hair to revel a very familiar face, one that was seen on the internet not too long ago.

"Karao Saeki?!" Hide gasped but before he respond Nishio had yanked the weak ghoul to his feet and hit his back against the tree.

"So I've finally found you…" Nishio sneered as he pressed his face up close to the Torso ghouls who was whimpering with fear, it was so pitiful. "You really are stupid aren't you" Nishio continued "all these years I've tried to track you down and you just coming running up to me out of nowhere…"

"W-what d-d-do you wan-nt" The Torso ghoul stammered, Hide felt guilty because he knew Nishio had a right to make Saeki explain himself but this wasn't the time nor place, it could wait to later.

"Nishio we need to find Kaneki" Hide said before the Serpent ghoul could take it any further "Look take him home with you or just make him follow us I don't care but Kaneki and Hinami are more important to me"

There was a pause and Hide couldn't tell what Nishio was going to do or what the ghoul was even thinking, was he considering what the human had said or was he going to ignore Hide altogether and take his revenge? Hide was glad when the Serpent ghoul stepped back a bit, he pulled Torso away from the tree making the weaker ghoul crash to the floor and soon enough Nishio was back on his knees in front of Saeki, Hide didn't know what was being said but Nishio whispered something in Saeki's ear that made the ghouls eyes widen his shock and fear and his face suddenly became a shade paler than before.

The Nishio backed away ad lifted himself of the ground and pulled Saeki up by the arm, "He will help us…" Nishio said "You going to answer our questions aren't you Saeki?" Its wasn't really a question but more like a statement and Torso quickly nodded, whatever Nishio had said to him it had done the trick.

"So tell us" Nishio started "What is the best way inside the college?" The Torso ghoul shook his head sadly.

"T-there isn't o-one" He stuttered "The CCG h-h-have blocked all the entrances so no ghouls c-can escape they have even sealed off the underground…"

Nishio and Hide listened patiently trying to think about what the stuttering ghoul had said it was Nishio who spoke first,

"Well Nagachika…" Nishio started "You're better that this type of the stuff than me, is he lying or not?"

"It's hard to see the signs since he is so scared" Hide mostly had a very good perception on people and when they lie although being the detective nerd he was one of things he looked up to help was to know when a person was lying even when he already knew what to look for. Since Saeki was sweeting and shaking so much due to fear it was hard to find the signs but he could believe what Torso said was true and it did make sense. This auction has been going on for a couple of hours and it would make sense for the whole building to be covered by now and it's likely the CCG know the whole layout of the college before hand and knew if there were any small hidden entrances. They were probably blocked long ago.

"I believe so" Hide nodded and turned back towards Torso "What about windows or broken pieces in the wall or ceiling that can be crawled through, any of those?"

Torso seemed to be thinking for a while then he spoke, "There is a hole in one of the ceilings that lets you into the college hall but you need to climb another roof to get in".

"That's the place we want to go" Hide said as Nishio nodded and put his attention back on Torso "Will you take us there?"

"No, he _will"_ Nishio mumbled, Hide pretended not to hear but the Torso ghoul nodded eagerly.

"There are no side door for the Doves to guard on that side, but we still need to be careful in case Aogiri guards are wondering about" Torso said with a smile, Hide thought that ghoul was thinking if he was helpful they would let him go.

"Yeah we can think of that one by ourselves!" Nishio snapped as he pushed Saeki forward then the Serpent ghoul leaded in close the weaker ghoul "And if you lead us in a trap we will kill you in a second"

The Torso ghoul gulped but neither the less he slowly led the way where they would find hopefully find their friends unharmed.

Xxx

Kaneki could laugh, if only Takizawa could see his reflection now the sight sort of remained him of those failed experiments he encountered four years ago in Kanou's lab. The Kakuja was nearly full but is weighed down on Takizawa's body like a giant sack, his back was bent and crouched like a hunchback as the Kakuja's muscles started to form and move around him. Touka and Hinami were already running away when Takizawa charged at the Centipede ghoul who was neither smiling nor frowning but he jumped into the air, out of the way before Takizawa could crash into him then suddenly with rinkaku spread out Kaneki came down from the air with his foot kicking full force under Takizawa's chin.

' _Kaneki…'_ the voice in Kaneki's head spoke, he had been good at blocking it out for a while and it was all just muffled like it was specking though a phone with a bad signal. For some reason the voice of his other self, the madness, was stronger than it had been all week, for years. Right now he wasn't dreaming but in his mind he was in the same room he had been in for all his dreams this past week but this time there were two wooden chairs, like the chair he was tortured in. He was sat in one but this time he wasn't chained nor blindfolded but he sat calmly across from the other chair where a pure white haired boy sat. His self from four years ago. He turned away.

' _Kaneki…" The voice spoke again but Kaneki couldn't see the boy's lips moving 'I'm I scary?'_

' _Why?' He asked with a chuckle in his voice_ _'you are asking why?'_

Back in the real world the solid body of Ken Kaneki was making his four rinkaku tentacles stab at Takizawa as quick as bullets, the Owl ghoul was running away from the attacks but the rinkaku never failed to miss a spot of the Kakuja every time it came down. The Owl screeching but it didn't reach the Centipedes ears because his mind set was somewhere else.

' _You are strong'_ Kaneki answered his other self _'No, you make me strong, you make me powerful and feared, you a reason I'm scared to hurt my friends, you are the dark shadow that hangs over me of every moment of every day, the person I couldn't be, what I can't be and one day you will swallow me whole, so yeah your scary"._

Right now at this moment Takizawa was running up the seats and off the stage feeling his Kakuja falling apart at such a rapid pace that he couldn't heal in time, it won't be long now before Kaneki could hit though the skin. It was then the kagune stopped but only for a second, Takizawa couldn't help but look behind him as something large, black, red and shiny smashed into him sending him crashing through the seats and floorboards. The Owl ghoul felt blood cough up from inside his mouth as the impact took all the air out of him and break his back.

Takizawa opened his eyes to look up at the dark figure in front of him with one red eye shinning above him and something large and monstrous forming from his back. Four of these kagune structures were long and thin shinning with red like a normal rinkaku but then there was something else entity, two large black shapes twice the side of the four rinkaku tentacles put together decorated with shiny red lines running along the structure but what was more frightening was the sharp talons running along the sides and ends, this Kakuja remained Takizawa of a centipede. A giant Centipede.

It looked tasty.

Takizawa laughed but it was short lifted when the Centipedes hands took hold of the front of the Owls robe dragging him upwards, the Owl tried to fight back but it was useless. Kaneki's Kakuja pressed itself back with the ends touching the floor and using that Kaneki gave himself a lift off as he leaped upwards towards the ceiling and using Takizawa's body like a shield he smashed the half-ghoul against the ceiling and the electric lights making large chunks of plaster and glass fall towards the ground. Touka and Hinami were already at Saiko's side and where now standing by the exit for safely but not wanting to leave their friend.

Takizawa screamed as he felt the electricity run though his body shacking every nerve inside him then he felt himself drop and crash into the stage, or what was left of the stage, and felt wood crash on top of him.

' _Yet neither of us can win'_ Kaneki said to his younger self as his real body landed to the ground like a cat on both legs. Right now his bird like Kakuja mask had positioned itself over his face as stood there awaiting the Owl's next move. No longer did he feel the uncontrollable madness of his Kakuja controlling him, nor did he hear the voice of Jason or Rize whisper to him, in fact he didn't know who or what was controlling his body at this point in time. _'I can't live with you all my life but I can't throw you way either'_ Kaneki spoke to his head as Takizawa shot forwards from the piles of wood and with speed he was sure the Owl had lost as he grabbed hold of the Centipede by the neck his teeth gridding together in frustration, he was going to win.

Kaneki's body was then smashed backwards into the already crushed chairs, his friends shouted his name but they fell on deaf ears as Kaneki consciousness was in a checkboard room.

' _I don't know either' Kaneki's other self-spoke sadly 'Hey, look at me' Kaneki was surprised by the request but still he didn't look up, he didn't need to see the nineteen year old teen anymore, it wasn't him. 'please' Kaneki ignored the pang in his hear when the voice said that, he kept his eyes to the floor. Then he heard the figure get up and the sound of footsteps came closer. 'you think I'm strong?' The voice said as it walked closer to Kaneki 'I'm not strong at all…' Even though Kaneki knew this was all in his crazy mind he couldn't help but feel a strangely small touch on his head. It was then Kaneki looked up and was surprised not to be greeted by a stoic expression and stone cold eyes but by a rounder and younger face and soft grey eyes like star light, he was not looking at a monster instead he was looking into the eyes of a child._

Back in the real world Takizawa was hovering over him ready to take a bite but Kaneki's body suddenly shot forwards and in one swift movement his teeth latched itself onto Takizawa's unprotected ear then pulled his head to the side yanking off the ear in progress.

Takizawa screamed in anger using whatever strength was left in his weakened Kakuja to charge at Kaneki but this was an old move and Kaneki's body was ready for his speed and strength. As Kaneki's two twin Centipede tails and four Rinkaku's lashed out towards Takizawa, the Owl noticed but he was going too fast to stop as all six large Kakuja tails burst though Takizawa's middle. The three girls watching the scene gasped and screamed in disgust as Takizawa's Kakuja and skin broke like a water fountain of blood and without mercy Kaneki's Kakuja spread itself apart while inside Takizawa's body, the half didn't get a chance to scream as his body was torn in two.

Xxx

The next thing was silence. A hollow silence that loomed over the three girls and two Kakuja half-ghouls. It was Hinami that step forward and broke the silence,

"Is…is he dead?" She asked and reluctantly every turned to the tatters of robes and skin which was Takizawa, it was a pitiful and painful sight to look at and Kaneki hoped that the Owl was dead so he didn't have to feel such pain. Kaneki's conciseness was back in the real world like he had never left and only having a few fuzzy memories of what happened during the Kakuja-duel but even his time in the checkboard room with the little boy was now fading from his head like a distant dream. It was then Kaneki's legs gave up on him and he fell to his knees as the mask crumbled from his face revealing an exhausted young man who looked like he needed a week's worth of sleep.

It was Hinami that ran up to him first, the young woman was careful not to stumble on broke pieces of wood or plaster and finally she climbed up to the stage and ran up towards her brother wrapping gentle arms around his Kakuja form that was slowly starting to evaporate.

Saiko also shakily got to her feet and moved away from the entrance towards the brother and sister to see if her sensei was ok but Touka didn't move, she stood still by the entrance. It looked like the Rabbit ghoul was staring down at the scene of the two ghouls and the investigator holding each other tightly being grateful that they survived but really Touka wasn't looking at anything but thinking over the questions running though her head. Why hadn't anyone from the CCG come to the college hall where two Kakuja ghouls were fighting? Why was everything so suddenly quite? Shouldn't they be able to here Aogiri or Doves fighting in the background? And why were her senses saying that their battle wasn't over?

"Hey guys!" the Rabbit ghoul shouted down to the stage as the three looked up towards her "Somethings wrong, I think we should…." But she was interrupted by an annoyingly yet familiar voice

"Yo! Kaneki, Hinami, Touka!"

All three including Saiko jumped at the usually loud and friendly voice coming from a certain hole in the wall and everyone looked up to see three very familiar looking people. One was defiantly the Serpent ghoul, Nishio who had hold of a very frightened Torso ghoul but it was the speaker who everyone was looking at. He wore a plain black ace of spades mask and he waved a quinque of yellow and blue in the air but it was the shot of blond hair that made him recognisable.

"Hide!" Kaneki gasped "Nishio?" The Serpent ghoul turned away embarrassed but Kaneki was sure a large smile was forming on Hide's face.

"Yo, you guys look awful!" Hide shouted down "But you look alive so that's good!"

"Hide are you ok?!" Kaneki called up, Hide wasn't meant to be here and what was Nishio doing out the basement? "Aogiri didn't attack did they and where are the Doves?"

"They are guarding all the exits around the college to stop ghouls getting out, there was some new squad who was just moving in" Hide answered "But I've not run into any ghouls, you don't think the CCG have killed them all or they are hiding somewhere? What had been going on here?" Hide took in the state of the room he didn't recognise the mess of black robes being Takizawa.

"Guys!" Touka screamed, they couldn't avoid to stand here chatting, something was very wrong "We have to leave now, why hasn't any Aogiri or Doves come to this room? I don't know what it is but someone has planned this from the beginning, we need to leave!" But Touka knew it was too late for warnings when heard and saw the wood of the broken stage house beging to shift under itself, it seemed that someone was trying to get though the trap door.

"We should…" But whatever Kaneki was about to say he didn't say it in time as the trap door was suddenly pushed open with force and a tall white figure with hair as white as a snowy morning and the face of an stoic expression hidden under his glasses came into view with a large quinque at his side. The new comer stood tall and indifferent at the sight before him and it was a look that Kaneki recognised, he saw it in his dreams when he wasn't having nightmares about Jason or Rize, the memory of a stabbing pain in the back of his head and though his eyes and staring into nothing but the face of Death,

Kisho Arima had come to the stage.

From Hide's and Nishio point of view it was like looking down on a staged movie, Hide for a rare time in his life felt shock, despair, helplessness and fear as he gripped hold of his quinque but it was useless, this was Arima, the person who people nicknamed 'God' in the CCG. He looked over to Nishio for suggestions but the Serpent ghoul to Hides disbelieve was already fleeing across the roof with the Torso ghoul across his shoulder and Hide was utterly along… _Like that time_.

Even strong willed Touka could only stand in shock and despair as the God of the CCG purposely strolled up to her friends with his pack of Doves surrounding the two ghouls and one investigator but whatever these two felt was nothing compared to what Kaneki felt.

Kaneki had only met Kisho Arima once on that eventful day of the anteiku raid and the investigator hadn't changed at all, those grey calculating eyes that were looking down at Kaneki as they did four years ago and it was like the whole world had frozen around them. He couldn't hear the sound of investigators surrounding them and unleashing their quinque he could only hold Hinami and Saiko tighter around him.

Last time he was lucky but this time he knew his luck had run out.

No words were spoken between the half-ghoul and investigator so it looked like Washuu's plan had been a success, Kaneki got rid of the Owl and now he was weakened for a squad, Arima's squad, to finish him of. But then again no one, not Washuu, Kaneki or Arima were prepared for what happened next.

It was Hide who noticed it first, being outside he was the first to hear the screaming and gasped coming from the CCG investigators below him, there was a rumbling and Hide could see the bins below him begin to rattle and shake. He looked around the area but he couldn't see anything, nothing in the sky or between the buildings. All the Doves where doing the same thing, Washuu and his staff where getting a bunch of calls from confused investigators but Washuu was just as confused as everyone else since in town everything was peaceful.

Back in the college the sound of stomping was growing louder and rumbling was getting stronger. It was then everyone realised that the sound was coming from underground.

"I thought you said the whole underground was covered!" Hide heard one of the investigators below him shout but whatever else was going to be said was cut off as the ground suddenly broke demolishing part of the college. The screams got louder and Hide was face to face with the largest and most monstrous being he had ever laid eyes on.

The thing was huge as it looked down on the college with a large Ukaku kagune armour coming out of its shoulder blades, the mask a large four horned skull shape and the whole body covered in kagune muscle. This was a full Kakuja, this was the one eyed-king.

Eto.

The King looked down at Hide with her one red eye, the human had no time to move away and the full Kakuja brought itself down towards the collage hall and down onto Hide. It now seemed the others in the college hall had now took notice of huge monster, Kaneki could only gasp in shock and fear as he saw the body of Hide fall through the hole in the wall into the building along with pieces of wood and plaster. He screamed his name but Arima was already in front of him with his back facing him with quinque full activated, if Kaneki didn't know any better it seemed that Arima was protecting him. The investigators around them had also had there quinque ready but they'd rather run but Kaneki didn't care what was going on around him, Hide was in trouble.

Touka had now moved as she pulled her hood to cover her face since the Rabbit mask was long gone and ran over at great speed to were Hide was laying but all the investigates eyes were on the One-Eyed King looking down on them menacingly with her eyes on Kaneki and the two girls, including Arima.

But for once a fight was not what the One-Eyed King was looking for, she had no time to play with the Death God tonight. She then noticed a little away from the circle familiar tattered robes and white hair sticking out, she recognised it as her beloved dog but she was not worried, she would collect him to.

To the Dove's surprise the Kakuja ghoul jumped over them and with on scoop of the Ukaku she picked up what was left of Takizawa and with one sick movement she poured to remains down her throat. Kaneki felt himself wanting to be sick but didn't get the chance to think of anything else as Eto with such speed knocked over the circle of investigators reaching her bone claw towards Kaneki and the two girls. Saiko was screaming, Kaneki and Hinami were too tired and beaten to do anything even Arima wasn't prepared for Eto to scoop the three in her giant bone structure claw and lift the trio up.

The group where struggling to get free, but Saiko who had long lost her quinque and Hinami and Kaneki who were unable to get there kagune's out without hurting each other could only watch the large ghoul staring at them on eye level.

"ETO!" Kaneki screamed but then there was a sudden thump as Arima had finally leapt forward, now understanding what the One-eyed king wanted, she wanted Kaneki but Arima wasn't going to have the ghoul have her way but Eto just laughed, an evil crackling laugh.

' _Maybe another time Mr Investigator...'_ She thought as she sped off with speed that Arima didn't think she had last time, going back though the broken wall with Takizawa in her stomach and Centipede, the Daughter ghoul and the blue haired investigator with her…. 

**Well there you, the final battle. Originally I was going to have a fight between Arima and Eto and that was going to take up a lot of this chapter but I figured that there has been enough fighting and it wasn't major to the plot and considering these two are basically 'Gods' they might have a fight scene with a chapter of their own in the sequel, I think you would all prefer that than squeezing it in this chapter. And besides you can get to much battle scenes.**

 **I will admit this was a hard chapter to write not only have I had a busy week with mine and my dad's birthday coming up and celebrating with friends a few days before but I wanted the final to be the best. Reading it though I personally think the Kaneki vs Takizawa was good but then I think it went downhill when I put Arima and Eto in but I just wanted to put Arima in since he's appearing in the sequel. And I regret that Akira didn't see Takizawa but don't worry there will be a new chapter up before we start the next part which will be called 'aftermath' I don't think I need to describe what it would be about. Should be up this weekend or early next week at the latest.**

 **As always I thank the reviewers' tats magicalmcguffins, Guest, nissangtrlover2569, narutofreak99 and Flowering Lotus for reviewing the last chapter, I hope this one wasn't a disappointment.**

 **Next chapter is 'Aftermath' along with some info on the sequel.**


	23. Auction Arc: Aftermath

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 23: Aftermath**

On that day, Friday June 13th 2015 the CCG had carried out two operations simultaneously. In a little town an auction raid was being held meanwhile back in Tokyo was the escort or transport vehicles carrying quinque steel. Just by chance the date of this quinque steal transport and the auction raid overlapped. In case Aogiri Tree knew this information and they would try to target the quinque steel, Special Class Investigator Marude and the S3 squad were assigned to escort the transport. Not long before the auction raid started Aogiri attacked the transport vehicles as predicted but they were sent off by the S3 squad. And as soon as the transport was complete the S3 rushed over to the town where the raid was being held.

Though late the squad had sent Aogiri ghouls to retreat including Black Rabbit, Naki and Triple Blades but there was no sign of the Customers and many investigators were missing including four of Mado students Tooru Mutsuki, Kuki Urie, Ginshi Shirazu and Saiko Yonebayashi and sixteen others, they were declared dead to the public, like poor Takizawa they were brushed under the rug…Including the identity's of Haise and Hinami Sasaki.

But despite the many casualties commander Washuu had manged to acquire a lot of information and exterminate many ghouls including the main targets, Big Madam and Nutcracker, all thanks to the bravery of Suzuya's squad and the Mado's squad…

The attack on the quinque steel transport failed for Aogiri Tree and the several groups of Aogiri members that escaped the S3 squad where pursued and then cannibalised by a certain something…

And the mysterious ghoul that was the cause of death for many good investigators was now identified as Seidou Takizawa as he was caught on many CTV cameras and whether that Centipede succeeded into finishing him off or not was unknown but he had now been noticed as a major threat and everyone now knew who he was, including Akira Mado.

On the Monday, the first day of college since the raid the building needed a major clean up and repair. Classes had been cancelled while the building was being restored and there was now a new post open for a Japanese Literature Teacher. CCG wanted posters now hung over the town with an up to date image of Ken Kaneki and now the whole town knew that their students had been taught by a ghoul.

The news had shocked everyone, there were rumours around town saying that the ghoul had been posing as a teacher so he can munch on younger and helpless victims, others were saying it had to be a mistake since the man had been so normal and nice to everyone and that students were saying he passed the RCC detector. But it didn't matter since 'Haise Sasaki' couldn't show his face in public again.

Three days after that eventful night Hideyoshi Nagachika had been bed ridden, luckily Touka manged to get him out of the rubble and away from the Arima and his pack before they noticed. For the past three days Hide had been sleeping in a short coma, Touka didn't want to take him to a hospital where they would ask questions so he brought him back to the now empty home with Chie hovering around and Touka nursing the human back to health. He had various scars across his body where wood and bricks had fallen on him but his right shoulder was the worse, Touka knew it wouldn't be the same again.

It was on Tuesday that Hide awoke to find himself back in his room with his quinque and mask at his bedside including a basket of flowers. The first moments he woke up where full nothing but hazy memories and pain all over his body but once Touka had entered the room to check on him he suddenly remembered Kaneki, Hinami, Arima and Eto. He suddenly shot out of bed but he was only greeted by sharp pains at his sides and shoulder, he couldn't help but cry out.

"Idiot" Touka mumbled as she pushed the human back down on the bed "You have been sleeping for three days after having piles of bricks and wood smashed over you and you make a move like that…"

"Where's Kaneki?" Hide asked, his heart thumping as if he had run a marathon due to worry and confusion. His fears where confirmed when he noticed the Rabbit ghouls face fall into sadness, she could not met the human in the eyes.

"I'm sorry" She said softly as she fixed the blankets on Hides bed "There was no chance of saving him, nor Hinami or that other girl the best I could do was save you that's what Kaneki would want" She went on to explain what happened and Hides chest fell with every word, how the One-Eyed King had taken Kaneki and the two girls including Takizawa and how Arima was too late to react and how Touka had pulled Hide from the rubble and put the human on her back and made the escape though the broken wall before the Doves would notice and told him how all four of Kaneki's new students and a few other investigators had gone missing.

"So it was true…" Hide said after Touka had finished the story "Aogiri was after Kaneki all this time"

"We can assume that they have taken them back to their base in Tokyo" Touka said "But they have changed bases recently and we can't find any signs of them but Yomo and everyone at RE are searching they won't give up…"

"And nor will I!" Hide snapped and Touka took a step back, it wasn't often that the human got angry but the female could see the rage boiling in Hide's strong brown eyes, his bandaged hands clutched the sheets but he forgot the pain "As soon as I can walk I'm going back to Tokyo, I'm selling the house, quitting my job because whatever they have stolen Kaneki and those other investigators for won't be good, they more likely are going to try and make more half-ghouls and if the CCG are just going to declare them dead like nothing then someone else has to stand up!"

"Hide…." Touka stared wide eyed at the blond "You're not suggesting…?"

"I am" Hide nodded "I'm going to try and finish what Kaneki started, I don't think I will do as good as a job but if we get the old gang back then we have a chance!"

Touka couldn't say anything, she knew once Hide had his mind set on something he would always follow it though till the end and she couldn't help but agree with the human's words but something about Hide's reaction and attitude shook something inside of her, she will have to keep an eye on the Nagachika man.

It wasn't until a week later that could Hide move, he demanded to be kept updated on what was going on but so far they had no such luck, they needed brains like Hide if they were going to discover more. Nishiki Nishio had also disappeared along with Torso but no one really cared at this moment so that week Hide didn't need to quit his job, everyone knew Haise and Hinami Sasaki had been living with Hide and the police had sacked the blond as soon as he stepped foot in the police station and it they said it was a wonder how the CCG could let him off but now the whole town looked down on him with disgust and betrayal, some were fearful thinking that he was a ghoul himself, but Hide couldn't bring himself to care.

That same day he put the house up for sale and by the end of the week he packing his, Kaneki's and Hinami belongings in a huge van, of course Touka, Chie and Yomo had came to help. They hadn't found a buyer for the house yet so Hide was going to stay with Touka for a while and all of Kaneki's and Hinami's stuff will be put away in one of Yomo's large containers until the two ghouls came back.

While packing Hide was surprised to see a strangely familiar old woman coming towards him,

"Honda-san?" Hide asked, he had seen this woman quite a few times talking to Kaneki and the half-ghoul had spoken about her on a number of occasions but this is the first time he a spoken to the woman without Kaneki there.

"Nagachika-kun" The woman said with a sad smile on her face "So it's true that you are leaving?" Hide smiled and shrugged,

"Don't have much of a choice" He said "The whole town thinks I'm a ghoul hoarder"

"They just fear what they don't understand" Honda said with a shake of the head "like it is with most of the world".

"I suppose I'm the odd one out then" Hide shrugged "Why are you here anyway? Don't you like all the others think I'm a ghoul or something?"

"I wouldn't care if you were" Honda said with a slight chuckle "I mean look at poor Haise…I mean Ken…I could sense the young man had ghoul in him from the start it's a power that's been passed down through my family, to see the unnatural"

"And you weren't afraid of him?" Hide asked, even though the supernatural was something Hide took interest in he didn't believe in magic,

"Why should I be?" The woman asked "The young man was kind, passionate, smiled at everyone and took his job as a teacher seriously, no matter his past or who he was before I know that none of his students or anyone in this town have anything to fear from him". Hide couldn't help but smile of the woman's kind words, he wasn't on his own in his way of thinking.

"So you believe he's alive?" Hide asked and the woman nodded with certainly,

"Of course I do, as I believe little Hinami is ok including those other four…"

"Mutsuki, Saiko, Urie and Shirazu?" Hide confirmed and the woman nodded as she turned her back on the young man staring out at the sun with was beginning to set,

"You know Nagachika…" She started "This whole world is going to change, if this was a bus going off on a journey then we had already hoped onto its seats years ago and now the engines are just beginning to run, it will be a long, hard and bumpy journey as is life but this one is going to be rougher than before and it's not just Aogiri that will be our road blocks there will be other trials as well we just need strong and good hearted people to take turns at the wheel and to light the hearts of the passengers we pick up on the way"

And with that strange little riddle hanging in the air and old lady walked off and Hide couldn't help but let a smile form on his face, he knew that Honda's words rung true and now it was up to Hide, RE and others to take charge, it was Kaneki who got them all together but they couldn't start the journey without him…And so they packed the last of the stuff and the van drove back to Tokyo with Yomo, Chie, Touka and Hide with a new goal in mind, an empty house full of happy memories behind him and a long dark road awaiting for them just ahead.

.

.

.

 **End of part 1**

 **Aww short and sweet and hopefully not to cheesy lol. News on the sequel will be in the next chapter, I hope you have enjoyed this first part Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Path.**


	24. Sequel News

**Sequel News**

 **Hello if you have been reading my author notes then you would be aware that there is going to a sequel. I'm going to post it inside this fanfic so you don't have to look for it and that people who have already followed don't need to follow again.**

 **I won't give too much away yet but Part 2 is going to take place four months after the auction raid back in our favourite Tokyo and will consist of a number of arcs instead of a giant one like the auction arc.**

 **We will see both Hide's and Kaneki's point of views on what's going on around them including the CCG and old characters you will be happy to see and new OCs.**

 **I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me so far, when I started this I didn't think I would get this many followers and readers and out of all my fanfics I have enjoyed writing this on the most and I can't wait to write more! But I must tell you that there is going to be a 2 week gap before I publish the next chapter, this is because I need time to go back on old chapter to tidy them up since I never found a Beta and I also need time for college as well I'm sure a lot of you would understand but 2 weeks goes rather quickly I might even publish before then lol.**

 **Yours sincerely**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	25. Investigator Arc: First Steps

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 1: First Steps**

The date was September 1st 2015, four months since that eventful night of the auction raid. The college had been rebuilt and thanks to the teamwork of the town citizens everyone had gone back to their quite daily lives and the mention of ghouls had been foolishly forgotten but that could not be said for the their neighbouring city Tokyo.

Like most cities in the world Tokyo is large, high-tech and has wonderful nightlife with a large population of roughly 13.35 million and most of that percentage where ghouls secretly living among humans doing what humans do shop, chat, work, hang out you get the gist but people were warned of the ghouls that lurked in the shadows watching the human race go by and waiting for a chance to strike at the heart of it all and one of these group of ghouls were known as Aogiri Tree.

Powerful, large and well-known these group of ghouls where not only feared by the humans and the CCG but by the rest of the ghoul population as well. The end goal of the group is unknown as of yet and it hasn't help since they haven't been doing much activity for the past four months but tonight that was going to change, the humans had their break, the CCG had the time to repair itself and lick their wounds now the Fall was about to begin starting with the jail break of a certain ghoul being transported to Cochlea.

Midnight was approaching and standing on top of a skyscraper was a figure of normal height but his aura made him seem bigger. The tips of his hard black boots where hanging from the edge of the tall building, his short black leather coat ripped tightly around him and the wind was making his black hair fly off his face to reveal the black mask with large white artificial teeth gleaming as the small sliver zip shone in the moonlight, the mask covered his right eye but his left eye that was black and red shone through to the world, showing him to be a ghoul. And not just any ghoul for that matter….

"Oi Eyepatch!" A voice shouted behind him and the said ghoul turned his head to find a male ghoul with messy dark blue hair and strong blue eyes that were seen though the gaps of his black rabbit mask.

"Leaving it a little late aren't you Ayato-kun" Kaneki said with a smile in his voice "The vans should be coming down any minute now"

"I would've been here earlier if it weren't for those brats" The Rabbit ghoul defended but the Eyepatch ghoul just shook his head,

"Brats? They are older than you Ayato-kun"

"Well they act like brats" Ayato huffed crossing his arms in annoyance "Urie and Shirazu were bickering like usual, that fat girl won't get out of bed so I just left her at the base and the only one who is co-operative is Mutsuki and he can't even use his kagune"

"At least he tries" Kaneki said gently turning back to the scenery in front of him, now on the building across from him he saw three familiar figures emerging from the roof of that building, he smiled because no matter what Ayato said tonight he and the Qunix were going to prove that they were worth the time and effort. He looked around him and dark cloaked figures were starting to appear on the roof tops and Kaneki couldn't see how this operation could go wrong.

Finally behind the rows of cars a large grey van guarded by CCG cars came into view. Kaneki didn't want to hurt the innocents in the other cars around them but it was unavoidable. The half-ghoul put his arm up to give the signal for everyone to get ready. He held his signal until the hood of the CCG was under his toes, he didn't need to speck any words as his arm came down and that was signal for Aogiri to make its move and it was Ken Kaneki who jumped first with kagune out shaped as one strong tail.

The poor low ranked investigator driving in the car wasn't prepared for a large red tail of scales to come down onto the hood of the car, the impact smashing his front windows pouring glass all over him. Kaneki had jumped away from the car as the investigator lost focus and his control on the wheel as the car skidded and screeched smashing in to a civilian car. The sound of car horns sounded all around, civilians screamed and cried out but the ghouls paid no attention to that, it was the van they wanted but still Kaneki hoped that no one was too hurt.

Red hoods of Aogiri now surrounded the area, Ayato took out the second CCG car that was on the van's left. The driver who was a bit more prepared than the first and tried to dodge the sharp falling crystals heading her way but one of the shades caught the tire and the car stopped at the side of the road and the investigator stumbled out her quinque was out and ready but then she didn't have time to blink as two other Aogiri guards jumped out to her sides and cut her down in one violent swoop, her skin ripped like fabric as she fell like a mangled mess on the ground.

Now two of the cars had been taken out, it was up to Ayato and a couple of Aogiri guards to take out the back cars Ayato was already on the third. This car had two drivers they had already stopped their car and with quinques at the ready but they were not prepared for the S rated Black Rabbit to jump in front of them with a circle of five Aogiri members surrounding them so they couldn't run away. The Black Rabbit didn't need to use his kagune to kick the quinque out of the investigators hands and punch him in the stomach, sending him flying to the ground.

The second investigator, who was either brave or foolish screamed as he ran up to the Rabbit ghoul but with one slice the ghoul had cut the brave investigator down though the neck and he watched at the head rolled off to the side. Kaneki watched all this with sickness in his gut, Ayato was brutal with his fighting but this was getting too much yet Kaneki's job was basically half done.

While Ayato and the others took out the two back cars Kaneki had to take out the front and once done it's was his job to oversee the battle, give support when needed and stop to any interference but at the moment things seemed to be going ok until an unexpected figure jumped in front of him so quickly that Kaneki and no time to put up any defence let alone wonder where the sudden figure came from or what had sent him back making him skid across the road but at least he was still on his feet.

The Eyepatch ghoul looked up ready to face his attacker but to his surprise the figure was gone, he looked around confused wondering how someone like that had just disappeared was this the 'Floppy' he had been warned about? But he was too busy thinking and because of that he wasn't ready for something to speed up from behind him. He turned just in time to see a long shape of a purple quinque sword come towards him, he leaned away just in time until the sword could impale him.

It was then Kaneki got a good look of his attacker and was surprised to find the man who attacked him was no ghoul but smelt human, he held a purple sword but it was strangely shaped compared the quinques he had seen it looked like one of those medieval European swords like in King Arthurs stories but it longer and thinner and looked flimsy to wield but no doubt it suited the fast human just fine. But despite the quinque he doubted this was an investigator because instead of the normal white long coat and the black shirt and pants the man wore a leather blue short jacket zipped up to his neck and dark blue skinny jeans, very casual.

"Wow I'm impressed…." The mysterious human said turning around to face the half-ghoul, Kaneki was greeted with pale green eyes and messy brown hair with small streaks of blond and going by his look and accent he wasn't Asian, probably European like his quinque design. "Not many ghouls have survived my surprise attack once let alone twice but I suppose I should of expected no less of the famous Centipede who had escaped Arima not once but also twice" Unlike most people when specking with ghouls instead of specking with fear or resent this one seemed to be cheerful, impressed even.

"Who…?" Kaneki was about to ask but he was interrupted when he heard a familiar battle scream, both men looked to the left to find a clad in black wearing a strange full face mask with large sharp teeth painted on and a long pointed nose making him resemble a shark but his flash of orange hair gave it away who he was. Shirazu had unleashed which seemed to be a kagune from his shoulder blades but unlike wings it was a large thick structure decorated with claws but they didn't have much time to admire when those sharp claw like objects, six or seven of them shot out of the kagune towards the strange human like projectiles.

The human smiled and dodged the bullets effortlessly, it seemed the ghoul with the strange ukaku type ghoul didn't have very good accuracy. The newcomer landed besides Kaneki who turned to the Shark ghoul in annoyance,

"What are you doing?" He demanded "You are meant to be helping the other two" He meant Mutsuki and Urie but he didn't dare say those names in front of this stranger.

"Don't worry the others got their backs" The Shark toothed ghoul said cheerfully "Besides I was also meant to back you up!"

"Oh my" The strange human laughed causally as he looked over to his side "it seems your friends are doing quite are doing quite a good job…" The two masked ghouls turned to face his direction and the human was right the plan was going well. While Ken and the others took out the cars and the CCG it was the Quinx job to take hold of the van but with Mutsuki and Urie by themselves they seemed to be doing just fine. The driver had already been dealt with and he saw the white of Mutsuki's Eyepatch mask rummaging front seat and built in compartments meanwhile he could just make out Urie's metal knight like mask rummaging through the body of the dead driver.

"I don't think I will kill you or your friends today Eyepatch" The strange human said with a shrug of the shoulders as be began to turn his back "well not unless the rest of the CCG get to you first, I've already called the main office and CCG officers will be arriving soon so I would get out while you have the chance" and with that the human ran off leaving Shirazu to shout.

"Oi come back here jerk, why would you warn us about that who are you?!" The orange haired Quinx was going to run after him but he was stopped by Kaneki's hand on his shoulder,

"He will be long gone by now" The Eyepatch ghoul said remembering the speed the human had shown "Come we need to get our target and leave!" Shirazu was reluctant but quickly nodded as they made their way towards the van where banging of the metal doors could be heard.

"Oi you found those keys? She's giving me a headache!" Ayato shouted towards Urie who had just finished checking the body, Urie stood up and shook his head but it was Mutsuki who saved the day, the white Eyepatch ghoul jumped out of the van holding what looked like a set of keys on a key chain,

"Are these what we looking for!" He asked and Ayato nodded,

"Yeah, throw them here" Ayato gestured with his hand and Mutsuki threw the keys towards the Rabbit ghoul,

"Guys as soon as we get the girl we need to leave" Kaneki interrupted "I just met someone…"

"Yeah we won't hang about with explaining stuff" Ayato said waving the Eyepatch off "we will take the bitch and we can go" Kaneki bit his lower lip under his mask to stop the snide comment from leaking out of his mouth, normally he wouldn't off bothered to hold back with someone like Ayato he could easily beat him to a pulp if he tried but that wouldn't look good on his part, besides best get this done without hassle so they could leave quicker.

He watched as Ayato started to unlock the door that was continuing to bang and shouting noises could he heard behind it but he couldn't make out the words. "Prepare yourselves" Ayato mumbled as he yanked open the door and a girl who looked no older than eighteen hopped out, her hair was long, curly and messy trailing down to her waist and was in the colour of straw, she was tall and thin with quinque handcuffs attached to her wrists and ankles making her hop around instead of walk and it looked like she had been trying to bite the CCG staff because she quinque iron wrapped between her teeth.

"MMmmmmmm..aummmm mmmmmauu!" The girl was trying to say something but whether she was trying to thank her rescuers or warn them Kaneki wasn't sure but when he heard the sound of sirens he knew they had to move.

"We need to leave NOW!" Kaneki ordered and everyone started to move out, Ayato picked up the blond girl and carried her on his shoulder while Kaneki with the Quinx behind him moved back to base with their first successful mission under their belt and a lot of question he needed to know.

Xxx

At 7:30 in the morning the sun pecked out the bedroom windows belonging to a young man named Hideyoshi Nagachika. However the blond had already been up at the ungodly hour of six o clock in the morning. Hide was a light sleeper practically nowadays but last night was the worse, he tossed and turned in his sheets, he went over his files and maps, listened to music but he just couldn't drop off to sleep it was like something nagging at him at the back of his mind saying that something was wrong.

The human was now getting dressed in a casual jeans and hoodie, these days Hide would only go out at nighttime or in the early hours of the morning. No one knew where Hideyoshi was living at the moment besides from a few friends and he'd rather keep it that way for time being.

Hide stepped out of his bedroom rubbing his eyes and wasn't surprised to hear Touka up and about in the kitchen. You see the flat where Hide and Touka lived was right on top of Re, a coffee shop which Touka run along with her friend Yomo but only that it was place were ghouls could get help and support in the fifth ward.

Hide moved into the kitchen the smell of coffee was welcoming and homely as he moved to sit on the kitchen table,

"You look like a zombie" Touka commented handing the full coffee mug to Hide "Didn't sleep last night?"

"Nope" Hide said with a shake of the head his coffee mug warm between his fingers "I can't explain it but last night I felt restless like something was wrong"

"Well your reaction is normal" Touka shrugged pouring herself another coffee "You have been working nonstop for four months you need to rest…"

"I can't do that" Hide sighed before taking a sip of his coffee, seriously Touka makes the best coffee in the world but it wasn't the same as when your best friend makes for you. For these past four months Hide had taken up a room in Re with Touka being happy to look after him, maybe because she was lonely Yomo wasn't much of a talker after all. The human had been going around Tokyo's wards as far as he could without facing ghouls who were above his fighting level and searching for information or sightings on Kaneki, Hinami, the missing investigators or Aogiri Tree but since the auction raid the wards have been quiet like Aogiri was getting ready for something big and bribing its time and he knew it had something to do with Kaneki.

Suddenly the sound of frantic knocking of the door sounded from downstairs, the human and the ghoul shared a quick look before heading down the stairs towards the shop. The knocking sound was coming from the back door, the two had to go through the storage room towards the back door in which Touka flung open to revel a very red in the face messy looking Yoriko Kosaka.

Yoriko was Touka's best friend since high school, Hide found himself having conversations with the female since they were the only two humans who were apart of Re and were friends with the ghouls. So when they say the human girl out of breath clutching her mobile phone they knew that something was up. It seemed that Hide's restlessness last night wasn't wrong after all.

"Guys have you seen the news!" The woman explained putting the phone into Touka's hand and the female ghoul lifted the phone up and Hide looked over her shoulder to find a paused news clip. Touka pressed the play button expecting the worst as the female news reporter started to speck with images of a blocked off road, three wrecked CCG cars and a van including the destruction of quite a few normal cars behind her.

"Last night at 12:00 am a CCG van being escorted by three CCG cars was ambushed in the 23th Ward. The van which was carrying the S rated ghoul Athena was taken by a group of red hooded figures believed to be Aogiri Tree including Black Rabbit and the infamous Eyepatch ghoul discovered four years ago to be Ken Kaneki. There were also three new ghouls on the scene but not much detail has been given on them and names still haven't been decided. The CCG warns the citizens to be extra alert…." Touka clicked off the video, there was no need to watch anymore.

No one knew what to say, it was like they predicted. Aogiri was either forcing Kaneki to work for them or they had made a deal. At least it wasn't the worst case scenario, he wasn't dead.

"So it looks like we are going for a little walk after" Hide said with a smile forming on his lips, after four months Aogiri was finally moving and the attack on the CCG cars was just the beginning, he was sure things were only going to get bigger and crazier from here.

Xxx

It was morning yet no one in Aogiri's base would know otherwise unless they had a clock and Ken Kaneki was one of those people. Four months ago Aogiri had finished modifying a large part of the tunnels under Tokyo fitting it so no stray ghouls could walk in accidently but with going how long the tunnels ran for there was a less likely chance of that happening. Rooms had been built for different purposes such as training rooms, bathrooms, prison cells, torture rooms… There were also bedrooms for Aogiri ghouls who didn't have or couldn't get a home within the human world and Kaneki, Hinami, Shirazu, Urie, Mutsuki and Saiko each had their own rooms next to each other including other ghoul's as well.

At 7:30 in the morning Kaneki was the only one awake, like usual he would wake up at this time and walk through the underground corridors or lounge about in the 'hang out zone' with a good book or with his thoughts.

Right now he was thinking about last night's attack, it had been more successful than he thought it would be they got the S rated ghoul Athena, the one Eto asked for personally, took out a couple of doves and left before more could make it the scene and though a few civilian cars had been smashed in the progress the news report had said though there where causalities no one had died which was good on Ken's part. So his first mission for Aogiri it wasn't _too_ bad.

The Half-ghoul now having the bathroom to himself stood in the shower letting the warm water trickle over him. Even though Aogiri was pleased with Kaneki there still things in Kaneki's mind that felt off like the impossibly fast human with the sword and the strange ghoul they had to rescue.

All the way back to base she had been mumbling intelligible words from her gagged mouth but she stayed still as Ayato carried her all the way back to where Eto was waiting dressed in her usual red rope and bandages, even though Kaneki knew the face behind the mask.

And the strange thing was once Ayato untied Athena's bounds the blond girl pushed herself away from the group and hopped her way towards Eto and like a couple of high school girls the two embraced and laughed while Kaneki and the three Qunix stared in shock. This was the first time they had seen Eto interact like this to another person, the two woman seemed to be a perfect match, they were just like each other playful, sadist and powerful and it made Kaneki feel uneasy. Now he had someone else to worry about.

While Kaneki was lost in these thoughts he didn't hear the men's bathroom door open so he faced with the misfortune of having the shower curtains suddenly yanked wide open and Kaneki accidently turned full on surprised to find a young green haired woman with a childlike features and curiosity written all over her face.

"Ken-chan!" The woman explained "I thought I would find you here!"

"ETO!" Kaneki screamed in shock as he yanked the shower curtain back towards him to cover his…well you know….

"Calm down I just wanted to talk to you…" Eto explained with a shrug not really caring for the male half-ghouls privacy.

"Eto I'm in the shower!" Kaneki nearly screeched and winced at how desperate his voice sounded, this only got more embarrassing by the second,

"Sorry but I heard the shower running and thought I would give you a surprise!" Eto's answer wanted to make Kaneki smash his head against the wall…. Again.

"Couldn't you of waited until I'm out the shower?" Kaneki explain "You know when I'm not NAKED!"

"Oppps" Eto mumbled and ran skipped out of the room with a snigger on her lips and Kaneki felt his veins beginning to pop from the side of his forehead yet he found himself wanting to smile. Although some of the things Eto did repulsed him beyond words and her power was just something new altogether he couldn't help but sometimes wanting to smile in her presence. The childish woman was creative (well she was the famous Sen Takatsuki after all), fun, intelligent and could really start up conversation and carry it on. Despite the things Kaneki hated her for he couldn't help but speck to her on hours on end about the world, books, people and fighting styles.

It was fun.

The half-ghoul switched off the shower and climbed out drying himself off with a towel and got dressed and decided to go and see what Eto wanted. When Kaneki stepped out of the bathroom he wasn't surprised to find the small woman leaning against the wall with arms folded and he head to the side to give the impression she had been waiting.

"Took you long enough!" The woman said as she pushed herself off the wall "I wanted to speak to you about a couple of things"

"I suppose you want to know more about the human that attacked me last night?" Kaneki assumed that was the case, when he got back to the base he had to explain in detail what had happened which was backed up by Shirazu and some other Aogiri members who saw the whole thing.

"Well yeah that…" The woman said uncertainly "let go for a walk!" So they walked down the long corridors passing many different rooms with no destination in mind but to chat.

"You know Ken-chan" Eto started "I am very pleased with the results of last night, we got a very valuable Aogiri supporter back and the Quinx project seemed to be a success and you said Shirazu used his kagune?"

"Yes he did" Kaneki nodded "Although his accuracy does need work I think he could prove to be quite powerful once it's mastered".

"Oh I'm so glad to hear that!" Eto explained "But I would prefer the Quinx to use the quinques Hakatori gave them we are going to encourage the others to use them too".

"You sure that's a good idea Eto?" Kaneki couldn't help but ask "I mean we are already low on materials since the Quinque Steal Raid four months ago failed shouldn't we build up materials first before proceeding?"

"Don't be silly Ken-chan" The woman giggled and Ken wished the woman wouldn't mock him so much "I mean it's just a test for now to see how the CCG would respond to ghouls using the weapon that was meant to kill them and if we can train our soldiers to fight with both kagune and quinque at the same time then we could be at an advantage, I trust you can master this technique?"

"It's not as easy as it looks" Kaneki said with a shake of the head "I've already mastered my Kagune but mastering a quinque is different you need to have mastered both of them to be able to use them together"

"You're a fast leaner Ken I'm sure you can do it" Eto said gently with a pat on his shoulder "Besides I'm sure if Kishou Arima had a kagune he would be able to use both effortlessly".

"Do still think I could be better than the Death God of the CCG the one you can't even beat?"

"I know you can! Remember what I told you when I first took that night? 'That you will raise a ghoul that can surpass Kishou Arima' That is why the Quinx experiment was carried out on Doves, trained investigators who already know how to kill, you understand?" Kaneki nodded resisting the urge to gulp when thinking about the white haired investigator. He had only met the special class investigator twice once during the Anteiku Raid and the second during the Auction Raid four months ago each time leaving an impression on Kaneki that he couldn't explain and each time Kaneki escaped, but only by luck.

"Arima is the highest ranking GGC investigator there is" Eto continued "He has the highest number of achievements and is probably one of the most strongest investigators within Japan, probably the world. Although Aogiri Tree is continuing to grow more in numbers, strength and resources another half-ghoul strong enough to rival Arima to rival even _me_ it won't be just Aogiri Tree who would have something to hope for, it would be the world! So if you are going to raise ghouls who can surpass Arima then you have to be the one that surpasses him"

"That's never going to happen…" Kaneki sighed with an eye roll, sometimes Kaneki couldn't help but think that Eto was _too_ ambitious and had trouble believing her words when she went on about these kind of things. He barely survived his first fight with Arima and if Eto hadn't come and taken him all those months ago he bet he would be dead including Hinami.

"Anyway" Eto said changing the subject "Have you read my new book yet? What did you think?"

"Oh I've already finished it" Kaneki laughed, glad to be talking about something else "I couldn't put it down".

"Seriously!" Eto explained "The book only came a couple of days ago! Honesty if only I could write books in the amount of time you read them then I would be a billionaire!"

"I didn't think money was your thing Eto?" Kaneki smirked and Eto smiled back their eyes meeting each other's something that neither him nor Eto could control sometimes. It was then they realized that they had come to the set of stairs that lead out to the human world.

"Anyway Ken-chan this is where I leave you" Eto winked then she turned to walk up the stairs "Now that your mission is done I want you and the Quinx to discover more about that guy who attacked you last night, to have a quinque and that kind of speed he must have some connection to the CCG, he might be a foreigner since we have never heard of him and someone who can put up a fight with you must be a very strong human and that could be trouble…Sort it out for me" She ordered then she unlocked the door and walked though leaving Kaneki alone to his devices.

Xxx

"Hah..." Mutsuki cried a little when Doctor Kanou pulled out the needle from Mutsuki's arm. The time was now coming to 10:30 and Kanou had come to Aogiri's base to check up on his new Quinx experiments.

"No need to make that noise Mutsuki-kun" The doctor said with a tut and he sorted out the needle "What made you want to be an investigator once I don't know…"

"Umm…No its just needles aren't something I can get used to" Mutsuki said rubbing his arm, he knew he had faced worse than a needle prick, maybe it was just an old childhood fear he couldn't get over, he wasn't sure. "I'm doing my best though…I don't mean to be a nuisance to you…"

"Not at all" The doctor smiled, even though for whatever reason Mutsuki couldn't pull out his kagune he and the three others were out of the twenty that survived the Quinx experiment and that was enough "Anyway where are your friends? Asides from Kaneki-kun no one else has come to have their blood drawn".

"That's no surprise" Mutsuki laughed nervously getting up and rolling his sleeves back down then fixing the eyepatch over his eye. "They just whatever they want, I'll be sure to let them know".

"Oh and if you see them give my regards to Naki and Takizawa for me"

"Will do!" Mutsuki nodded before walking out the door of Kanou's little office he had for when he came here. The green haired Quinx strolled down the corridors wondering where to go and where his friends would be. Shirazu and Urie should be in one of the research rooms going over documents on European and American CCG's, Saiko is probably still in bed and Kaneki would probably be in one of the training rooms. Mutsuki sighed in defeat because working with his team mates in Aogiri was not that much different from when they worked in the CCG.

Mutsuki was too lost in his thoughts that he found himself banging into something solid like a brick wall or someone… Mutsuki looked to apologize but was surprised to be greeted by bright red eyes and a shot of white hair with a red metal mask.

"Tatara-san!" Mutsuki gasped as a wave of fear came over him, Tatara was one of Aogiri's leaders and was a direct subordinate of Eto, a ghoul with his status would have his own privet quarters along with the other leaders why would be down here?

"Be careful when you walk" The stoic man said without emotion or anger as he carried on past Mutsuki without looking back and Mutsuki could only stand there in shock, not believing his luck that he was still alive.

So he carried on down deciding to see if Urie or Shirazu needed help researching, the main research room the Kaneki and the Quinx used was Room 1 which was basically a classroom sized room with a large table usually stacked with books, papers and laptops and he expected to find the other two male Quinx going over them but when he lightly knocked on the door of Room 1 and creaked open the door he was surprised to see it empty.

How strange?

"Mutsuki-kun!" He heard a female voice shout and he turned to his left to find a smiling and bright looking Hinami holding a pile of papers in her arms with her Onii-chan, Ken Kaneki trailing behind her dressed in his gym clothes, he smiled in greeting at the Quinx.

"Mutsuki-kun" The half-ghoul smiled "Have you seen the doctor today?"

"Yeah" Mutsuki nodded "But the others still need to be checked, I also bumped into Tatara-san today" He said and Kaneki and Hinami looked a little taken aback by this.

"Tatara? What would he be doing here?" Kaneki asked but he shook his head "But never mind about that were are Urie and Shirazu?"

Mutsuki shrugged "they aren't in the research room and I would beat they aren't seeing Kanou"

Kaneki bit his lip in worry and turned to walk back down the corridor,

"Onii-chan where are you going?" Hinami asked as she and Mutsuki ran to catch up with him.

"Going to find Urie and Shirazu, they weren't in the training room nor the research room or Kanou's office and Hinami was in the hang out zone before so they can't be there and they aren't the type to shut themselves in their rooms so I'm going to find someone who would know".

"Saiko?" Mutsuki asked,

"She's been asleep all morning" Kaneki said with a shake of the head "I'm going to look for Takizawa".

 **Well I'm not sure if people are going to love this chapter or hate it, I know I have I lot of explaining to do like how Takizawa's alive and why Ken, Hinami and the Quinx are working for Aogiri well just be patient it will be explained in due time.**

 **This chapter is up sooner than I expected it's because the bitch of a teacher who usually gives us homework is off ill this week (which is annoyance since she always complains when we have just** _ **one**_ **day off).**

 **In the next chapter we will have more on the CCG and our new OCs and find out what Urie and Shirazu are up to. This sequel is going to be set out differently from the Auction raid in part 1, it's going to be set out into different small arcs you might see a change in chapter titles I will spilt them up to show which arc is what.**

 **And as you might have guessed this Arc is going to be loosely based around the Torso Arc but it won't be about Torso. In fact this story will have elements of Re and Root A including some scenes from Ishida's drafts that didn't make it into root A (I'm really angry about that).**


	26. Investigator Arc:Trouble Coming

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 2: Trouble Coming**

Having the large weight of memories, pain and feelings was one thing but having nothing but the feeling of drifting your lift away was another pain altogether, well this is what Seidou Takizawa had felt these last four months. He could remember faces but his past torment, his job in the CCG and childhood was blur sometimes the present seemed to pass him by, he felt empty but that's just what he was. An empty shell. A zombie. Well he had died after all. He couldn't explain how he was brought back, the doctor said something about his Kakuja still being alive when he died, about RC's being alive as some kind of parasite but it just went over Seidou's head.

He didn't say much anymore, people tried talking to them such as a blond called Naki, a black haired man named Kaneki and some strange woman wrapped in bandages and right now a young new girl with messy blond hair and a tall thin frame now sat at his side as they let their legs hang off the edge of the roof of the tall vacant building that Aogiri's base was under.

"You don't talk much do you?" The girl said "Is that what you do all day, just stare at the clouds and the people below you? To be honest I can't blame you at all" Seidou didn't answer, he could hear her just fine but she was starting to get annoying and for some reason the need to rip her head off and eat her nice tender ghoul meat kept entering his mind but he didn't, it just wouldn't be right.

"You know we have been sat here for about two hours now and not once have you said my name" The girl said with a gentle smile on her lips "My name is Athena, it's the name of the Greek Goddess of wisdom and war strategy and though I don't look like it I do have those gifts that is probably why Eto treasures me so and why the CCG are targeting me although they just like killing anyone who's not human those Doves do" She said with a laugh as she leaned in closer to the white haired half-ghoul and Seidou found himself shifting uncomfortably, why did this girl have to lean in so close?

"You were an investigator once weren't you?" Athena said with a smirk "Tell me why they do it? Humans? Why do they just kill us mercilessly without trying to understand our situation? I will tell you something interesting about me…I've never killed a human before I get my food from suicide victims and sometimes I even up digging up the graves of people who have recently died but I'm carful to put the grave back like it was so tell me why I'm running for my life? Who am I hurting? That's why I joined Aogiri, Eto promised a better future where ghouls can live peacefully but to be honest I just think she wants to destroy everything…"

"Hey Takizawa and…Athena was it?" The ghoul woman turned her head in annoyance to tell off the intruder but she stopped when she realised who it was then she smiled. It was Ken Kaneki with his sister Hinami and one of the Quinx friends behind him.

"Ok Kaneki-san!" The smiled giving the half-ghoul a little wave, so this must be the half-ghoul that Eto and that doctor was so interested in. "What are you doing up here?"

"Well Urie and Shirazu have disappeared" The half-ghoul answered "Takizawa has a good noise and usually wonders around the base so I was wonder if he would have an idea where they were". Seidou turned at the mention of his name. He saw Ken Kaneki standing in front of him giving him a slight smile that was always pitying and Seidou hated it, what did Kaneki know? Why did he always have a look of sorry in his eyes when they meet?

"I think we did see them didn't we Seidou-san" Athena said as she playfully nudged the white haired half-ghoul in the ribs "go on tell him"

Seidou diverted his eyes hiding them under his long white bags suddenly feeling very shy at getting all the sudden attention, was he always like this? Or was it after the doctor restored him using his Kakuja or something?

"I…I…" He started as the others waited patiently "I think I saw two young men with orange and purple hair walk out the building…"

"What!" Kaneki gasped, the two others behind him looked taken aback as well. Hardly anyone went outside the Aogiri's underground base or this building at daylight, it was too risky since Urie and Shirazu were meant to be dead to the public.

"Where they masked?" Mutsuki asked but Seidou and Athena shook their heads and Kaneki sighed in annoyance, surely they couldn't be escaping not after what was offered to them and what the punishments of disobeying Aogiri were.

"I need to go!" Kaneki said turning his back "I need to get them before the CCG or any of the Aogiri guards know their missing"

"But onii-chan you face is on the wanted posters all over Tokyo!" Hinami argued "you can't just go out in daylight!"

"And nor can Shirazu or Urie!" Kaneki argued back "Knowing them they would be carful and stick to the alleyways and abandoned building you two can stay here and wait for them to come back"

"Wait Kaneki sensei I'm coming too!" Mutsuki shouted and ran to catch up, Hinami hung for a bit thinking,

"It's ok" Athena said now standing besides Hinami "go after I'll wait for your friends and I'll make sure no one finds out about this" Hinami looked at the girl in surprise, now looking closely there was something familiar about the blond ghoul in front of her but she pushed it back from her mind for now, she was just going to have to trust her.

"Thank you" Hinami nodded her thanks and ran off to catch up with the two men and Athena smiled and took her seat back right next to Seidou.

Xxx

In the first ward a large meeting between the squad leaders, their deputy's and the higher up was being issued in CCG's main office, investigators such as Juuzou Suzuya, Akira Mado, Hairu Ihei, Koori Ui, Matsuri Washuu and even Kishou Arima was present. They had gathered together to discuss what happened last night even though ghouls attacking CCG cars would be coincided 'petty' and would only need a small squad to deal with it, this attack was issued by Aogiri itself including Eyepatch/Centipede and Black Rabbit. Both ghouls and the group hadn't been sighted since the auction raid four months ago and they knew that the raid on the CCG cars was only the beginning. Of course it had to be Matsuri Washuu to open up the meeting.

"I'm sure you all know by now" Washuu started "That last night Aogiri Tree made its first move in four months by attacking four CCG cars and a CCG prison van that was delivering the S rated ghoul Athena, if that's her real name we are not sure but she doesn't fit any public files and we can't tell her age but we assume she's eighteen or nineteen" Washuu clicked a button on his remote in his hand and a projection of Athena's face appeared on the wall for everyone to see.

"She's pretty…" Kuramoto whistled earning his a scorn from his fellow team members. "So er…what's so special about this ghoul for two S rated ghouls to come after her including making Aogiri come out of hiding?"

"She one of Aogiri's most loyal and valued members and is believed to be one of the direct servants of the One-Eyed King" Washuu started "She has two types kagune a ukaku and rinkaku making her very fast with equally fast regeneration abilities, she had helped Aogiri with many off their missions has attacked many CCG investigators and has been sighted digging up graves and such"

"Sorry but I have question" Akira Mado interrupted "How was she captured and was she being transported to Cochlea?"

"In fact she was" Washuu nodded "She was captured by one of our new squads but unfortunately they were all killed during last night's raid, she was found in the seventh ward she and a few others of her kind had started to revolt against us, we killed a few but since she's special the squad decided to capture and interrogate her once they arrived at Cochlea but somehow Aogiri must of discovered what happened and went on their little rescue mission".

"But don't you think it's strange that Aogiri would reveal itself now after hiding for four months just to rescue a mere one of their kind?" Koori Ui asked "There has got to be something bigger to all this or we wouldn't all be called here"

"That's true" Arima said and everyone turned to the investigator in surprise, it wasn't often the usually silent Death God would speck during a meeting "The fact that Aogiri is revealing itself now is because they are planning something big and the raid last night was just the start we should expect bigger attacks from Aogiri and Centipede later on in the week"

"Finally someone says something smart!" An arrogant voice shouted out and everyone turned to the entrance to find the figure of a young male with messy brown hair that needed a good brush and wore standard black jeans with his light blue shirt hanging out with the top buttons all done and a brown jacket thrown over him, he looked like right scruff like he just got out of bed and threw on whatever fit him, not proper for a meeting at the CCG.

"Arthur Reed" Washuu greeted coldly glazing up and down at the newcomer's sloppy appearance in disgust "This meeting started less than fifteen minutes ago and I hope you have a good explanation for your lateness since you are the one who called the CCG to the scene and battled Ken Kaneki"

"Hey!" The investigator snapped "I'm British we can't function without a good strong cup of tea in morning, practically for a meeting"

"You should wake up earlier then…" Washuu started to argue but was stopped by a tap on his shoulder by Arima who shook his head telling the Washuu to leave it alone. "Anyway Reed-san if you could please explain your rude remark from earlier, do you in fact know something we don't?"

"Please Washuu-san Mr Reed will do" The rough looking male pushed himself of the wall "And for you information it seems that I'm the only one who has bothered to look at the reports, you say that the S rated ghoul Athena has attacked many investigators yet how many has she actuary killed?"

"I…er…" Washuu for once was tongue tied at the question, Ui found himself biting back the smile being to form on his face _it seems the hyena_ _has finally got his tongue caught by the cat,_ and for some reason something about Arthur Reed did remind him of a cat.

"Zero" Arthur answered with a smile "Question 2, how many innocents has Centipede killed and we are not counting the CCG doves"

"None that we know off" Washuu answered more surely "But his cannibalism of ghouls makes him a threat".

"Yeah but why does he cannibalise ghouls?" Arthur ask as he circled the table, everyone looked at the young male as if he was mad,

"Well it's obvious isn't it" Nobu Shimoguchi said "He's an insane ghoul who just wants power?"

"But is that all?" Arthur questioned "I've been build up quite the profile of him and have sent the info in my friends in Liverpool and they have the same theory as me and plus specking to him last night has confirmed this".

"And what is this profile Mr Reed?" Akira asked sudden interested "I already have some grip on his personality since I spoke to him before the auction, we know that Shimoguchi-san's thoughts of Ken Kaneki being insane is false since he manged to live as a human in a small town for four years and manged to become a qualified teacher…"

"Excellent" Arthur said beaming "looks like the CCG has some hope after all! Please carry on!"

"Well…" Akira put her head in her hand in thought "I would say he's not the type of ghoul who kills for the sake of it but only when he needs to, he is ruthless in his fighting abilities but not impulsive. He is very intelligent and does have the ability to care for others and make friends with humans and ghouls alike but it is possible he has a traumatic past and has a side to his nature that he can't control"

"Wow…I am impressed indeed Miss Mado, that is how you build a ghouls profile!" Arthur smiled while other investigators around the room either scowled, shifted uncomfortably or looked inspired "The problem with ghoul investigators in mostly Asian countries and some in Europe counties is that they don't try to understand the ghouls habits or personalities but stereotype them under one label which is 'Monster' but you need to get that thinking of your head and soon before more good investigators lose their lives by either taken by surprise or not understanding how a certain ghoul thinks"

Washuu grit his teeth in annoyance at the young man's words 'what is this foolish boy trying to get at?" He wondered 'who does he think he is trying to lecture a group of investigators who have more experience than him? What makes him so special that BCGM (British Counter Ghoul Measurement) send him to help us?'

"Now as we also know from Ken Kaneki's report" Arthur continued "He has attacked Aogiri many times in the past, he was probably a prisoner there for a short while and also in the auction raid he also killed Aogiri members so why after four months is he working with them now? And why would he? And also why would Aogiri want him to work for them? He was one their enemies it seems too much trouble for the One-Eyed Kind to kidnap him then ty to convert him to their side why not just kill him?"

"Well they did take his sister too" Juuzou Suzuya said leaning back in his seat biting on his lollypop "Maybe they are using her as hostage including those other four…"

"Suzuya!" Washuu snapped interrupting but Arthur wasn't having it,

"Oh no no no please Mr Suzuya please" The Brit said smiled "Carry on, I believe you are referring Tooru Mutsuki, Kuki Urie, Ginshi Shirazu and Saiko Yonebayashi they disappeared in the Auction raid didn't they?"

"Yeah they did" Suzuya said nodding sadly as Akira put her head down at the mention of her past pupils feeling the guilt kicking in "They were investigating Haise Sasaki posing as his students they were only there for less than a week, it's really a shame they were so nice and were talented investigators, I liked them a lot…"

"You say 'were'" Arthur pointed out "I suppose you going by the theory they are dead?"

"It's no theory" Washuu said a little too harshly "Mutsuki, Urie and Shirazu disappeared and never reported in when called and Yonebayashi was taken along with Centipede and his sister by the one eyed king…"

"You say disappeared" Arthur interrupted "but no bodies were found? You know…I would think after what happened with Seidou Takizawa would of made the CCG rethink their claims" That one statement made the whole room go silent, Akira Mado bit he lip in annoyance wondering what was with this boy and opening old wounds in her heart.

"And aren't we forgetting the three new ghouls sighted at the Car Raid?" Arthur leaned forward with his hands pressed against the table "I suggest we look further into them since the Shark masked one I battled had a strange looking Ukaku…."

Xxx

"Hey man I don't think this is a good idea" Shirazu said nervously as the two young men strolled down the dank and empty sewers under Tokyo, it smelt like piss and acid and would have been too dark if it weren't for their flash lights. "Nekisan said we need to work as team and going off in the sewers without him or the others knowing doesn't feel like team work"

"I have no intention to work under Centipede" Urie said his voice cold and crisp like the sewers they were under, Shirazu shivered watching Urie's back in the torch light. "I'm to go up the ranks of Aogiri and go to work under Tatara or Noro".

"Funny" Shirazu chuckled "Over four months ago you were saying you were getting promoted to the S3 squad!"

Urie ignored the comments and kept waking straight hoping they would be at their destination soon and he would get away from Shirazu's idiotic blabber.

"Anyhow Shirazu" Urie started and the orange head's interest picked up "Don't hold me back"

"Huh? Yer not the boss of me you know, you wanna fight me here?" Shirazu argued and Urie scowled, Urie was the boss here since he was the squad leader when they worked for the CCG and now squad leader again when working for Aogiri.

"I wouldn't really mind but…" Urie turned to face Shirazu who now stood ten feet away from him, both of them having their single grey kakugan activated "According to the rules those who rampage with their kagune will inevitably be exterminated"

"And according to the rules we are not meant to go out of the base in daylight without one or the leader's approval…"

"Oi Shirazu-kun is that you!" The two Quinx stopped and deactivated their kakugans before turning their flash light up to the sound where a small girl was hanging from one of the pipes with a camera around her neck she looked like a small monkey hanging from a tree. It took time but Shirazu started to recognise her.

"You're…." He started as the small woman jumped down and landed on both her feet.

"Shirazu you know this person?" Urie asked suspiciously eyeing the girl up and down, she smelt human but why was she here in the sewers of all places?

"Not personally…" Shirazu shifted uncomfortably, only he and Mutsuki knew about this girl and none of them thought to mention it Urie or Saiko in fact he had completely forgotten about the girl who seemed to know who Nutcracker was and that they were investigators.

"Wow I'm surprise you remember my face" The girl said beaming "I'm Chie Hori and you're going to see the 'Provider' aren't you?"

"How much do you know?" Urie asked bending down to the girl's height but if she felt threatened she didn't show it as she smiled turning her back on the two Quinx and gestured for them to follow her back the way they came.

"I'm afraid the Provider is not here today" The girl answered "I tried to visit him myself to see if I can learn some of his skills but unfortunately…"

"Hey you didn't answer our questions!" Shirazu snapped feeling angry and annoyed at the girl in front of him "Just who are you and how to you know about the Provider, also why are you acting so calm around us? We are meant to be dead!"

"There is a small café not far from here" The woman said completely ignoring Shirazu's questions "We can talk there…"

Xxx

Running around the criss-crossed alleyways of the 18th Ward would be a challenge if you didn't know it was well as Ken Kaneki. He did have four months to lean it after all. The 18th ward was run by the Triple Blades and therefore Aogiri's territory, the perfect place to have hide their base and Kaneki had been running around if half an hour now while Mutsuki and Hinami had spilt off to cover more ground.

Right now the half-ghoul was resting besides one of the walls away from ghouls and the poor humans who didn't have the money to live elsewhere. He tried to calm himself down and not get into panic mode and think that Shirazu and Urie had ran away or something bad had happened to them. He ran his hands though his hair, he had too much to think about at the moment he wondered if Shirazu and Urie maybe had a lead on the person who attacked him last night?

"Sensei!" a voice interrupted Kaneki's thought process and turned to find Mutsuki running up to him out of breath with sweat down his forehead.

"Mutsuki have you found anything?" The half-ghoul asked then noticed someone missing "Where is Hinami?"

"Oh don't worry sir she gone back to base to check if Urie or Shirazu have come back" Mutsuki answered "But I've been asking around, a ghoul said she saw two guys matching the description climbing inside the sewers"

"The sewers why would they….oh!" Kaneki started, his eyed widening and Mutsuki knew the half-ghoul had something.

"What is it sensei?" Mutsuki asked not liking the look on the older ghouls face, something was wrong…

"I should have known…" Kaneki mumbled rubbing the back of his head "they must have gone to see Provider?"

"Who's that?" Mutsuki asked, not hearing the name before.

"Someone who you don't need to know but how Urie or Shirazu learned about him in another case…"

"Then shouldn't we follow them down the sewers ourselves?" Mutsuki asked nervously feeling himself shake with nervousness, the way Kaneki talked it sounded like they were dealing with a dangerous ghoul.

"No point" Kaneki said shaking his head "if they went down the sewers that means they had taken the longest yet safest root to the Provider, he lives under the fifth ward you see so if we want to get ahead of them we need to meet them there"

"A-are you serious!" Mutsuki gasped with a stutter in his voice "we can't leave the 18th ward without permission! And we certainly are not allowed in the 5th ward because that were your friends live!"

"If we do this fast and swiftly then we can be there and back before anyone notices" Kaneki said as he got up from his seating position and stretched out his cramped muscles "We have our masks with us and we can hop on the next train in less than ten minutes, let's go!"

And so Kaneki ran with Mutsuki following behind, the one thing that went on though Kaneki's head at that moment in time was how stupid his two male Quinx were.

Xxx

When Kaneki meant 'hop on the train' what he really means is climb on the tallest building that the train passes then jump as lightly as you can onto the roof on the train without making a sound. Luckily Kaneki and Mutsuki were well practiced in this and so where a view other ghouls who wanted to get on the train to another ward. Once Kaneki jumped and then ensured that Mutsuki was right behind him the two flattened themselves on the carriage roof and cling tightly onto anything they could find like some of the other figures of ghouls he could see, he also saw some dropping off the train to get inside the 18th ward.

This was a standard form of travel for ghouls and not his favourite since many things could go wrong such meeting other dangerous ghouls, being seen by the CCG and birds pooping on your head, thats why you have to be careful to get off at the right stop and not to stay on the train for too long. Luckily they didn't need to stay in such an uncomfortable position long until Kaneki could see the first buildings of the 5th ward come into view.

"Let's go!" Kaneki said over his shoulder to Mutsuki who nodded even though the half-ghoul couldn't see him. The two jumped off onto the left side of the street watching the train fly past them and thankful for their ghoul strength they were able to stay on top of the train and jump off without injures.

"Great now we have to walk the rest of the way" Mutsuki complained tidying himself off and brushing the dust and dirt from his clothes.

"If we went any further the train would have stopped at the closet train station" Kaneki answered digging into the pocket of his black jacked and pulled out his Eyepatch mask. "Get your mask on and follow closely behind me and remember, stick to the shadows…"

Xxx

Sitting in an empty little burger shop hidden in the dark alleyway were the owners long scruffy black hair fell out of his cap and his apron looked like it needed a replacement was serving three plates of burgers and fries was not what Urie pictured doing with his time. Chie and Shirazu digged in to the plate of the food like pigs while Urie picked at the food feeling less than hungry and rather get answers instead, he'd rather not be in a place where he could be seen or recognised.

"Well…" Urie started eyeing the girl darkly "Who are you and why have you brought us here?"

The woman wiped her mouth with her napkin before specking "While working as a freelance camera girl I collect information and sell it, it's quite profitable and that's what I'm here to do today, sell information".

"So Miss Hori…" Urie started "How do you know about the Provider or us for that matter and what information do you want to sell?"

"Well…I don't want to say that I'm in a higher position than you" The girl said before taking a chip from her plate "but I know you are working for Aogiri now and I know about the Quinx project"

"Are you trying to blackmail us?" Urie asked dangerously "That information is only known from inside Aogiri Tree it would be a big issue if it was being leaked…We could forcefully interrogate or torture you in order to determine the cause of the leak"

"Yeah I suppose you could" the woman said thoughtfully finishing off the last of her plate not looking worried in the slightest "But if you try to force me to talk I'll only give you the bare minimum and not the information you guys need on the investigator that attacked Ken Kaneki, but just the cause of the leak then I'll go home or you could kill me, are you ok with that?"

"Yo leader" Shirazu said saying something for the first time since coming to the burger shop "Ain't it better if we just talk to her?"

"…Okay…." Urie said reluctantly not having a good feeling about this girl, "Well then, what type of info do you have on our little investigator?"

"Wait before we get into that!" Chie said putting her hand up stopping Urie in mid-sentence "My information is not free you know? Let's talking about compensation"

"WHAT!" Shirazu screamed banging his hands on the table a little too loudly, it was lucky they were only ones in the shop "You gave me and Mutsuki the Nutcracker information for free what's so different now?"

"That was when you were working for the CCG so I was on the side of 'justice' but of course things have changed" The young woman said smiling "Don't worry, it's not money I want…."

"Then what do you…." Urie started but again the girl beat him to it,

"What I want is….Ken Kaneki's belongings!"

"HUH!" The two Quinx gasped, now if Urie wasn't concerned he was now. What did this little rat know about Kaneki? He knew the half-ghoul was famous but…

"If possible things that he wears often or at least worn all the time would be best" Chie said casually like the Quinx never reacted, it was Shirazu who spoke first.

"Are you a perv or something?" he spoke scratching his head "What the hell do you want with them anyway?"

"Nothing for you to worry about" The girl said with a shake of the head "The info is the most important right?"

"Yeah sure," The Urie said shrugging "I'll try and get something but the information comes first"

"Okay!" The small woman said beaming reaching into her bag "I think I'll be a big help, these are the photos of the guy your after and the car he drives, you will get the rest of the info once you have paid me".

The two Quinx looked though the four photos of a young man in his early 20s with messy brown hair with hint of blond with green eyes and looked western getting in and out a sliver car. Urie smiled, they finally had a lead and were one step ahead from Centipede.

 **Note: I'm only guessing that Aogiri's base is in the 18** **th** **Ward since is belongs to Triple Blades. Same with Re I can't find any information on what ward could be in, I'm only guessing its either the 5** **th** **or 6** **th** **ward because if you look on the information on the wards in chapter 43 page 13 there is a map of where the wards are and what's going on and both those wards have question marks on them and are close to the 1** **st** **ward where Haise lives so he could get to Re easily.**

 **So we now know a little more about Athena and our strange Investigator has a name and a new Oc has been mentioned, so who's the Provider and what is he to Aogiri and Chie?**

 **If you are confused on Seidou survived then don't worry because he's going to have his own arc where it will be made clear, basically Kanou used the RC cells in his Kakuja to fix his body and organs. I never meant for Seidou to die in the auction and I have planned an arc for him since this story began so don't be too disappointed with the result.**

 **The next chapter should be more exciting since there is going to be a mini battle and the Re gang come back into it including an old character I'm sure we've all missed….**

 **Like always I thank the following reviewers** **Haruto Arima, Guest, nissangtrlover2569 and tats magicalmcguffins and finally Flowering Lotus who became the 100** **th** **reviewer! Well done and thank you so much! I will give you prize if I had one but all I can do if you 1000 cookies**

 **But seriously guys thank you I can't believe we have 105 reviews! You guys are amazing! 3**


	27. Investigator Arc: Quick Death

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 3: Quick Death**

The only sounds heard was the traffic below their feet and the birds squawking and flying in the greying sky as Urie and Shirazu rested on the roof of some office building in the fifth ward staying out of sight of the humans. They had been lucky not bump into some Doves yet but Shirazu didn't want to push his luck, he was worried that Nekisan or Mutsuki would be looking for them or the other Aogiri guards for that matter but looking over towards Urie the other Quinx didn't seem to have any interest in leaving but instead stared down at the scenery below him. It was then Shirazu wondered if Urie missed his old human life but he didn't dare say anything but instead flick though the photographs in his hands and thought of a way to break the silence.

"You know that Horie woman?" Shirazu started "She didn't look too promising at first but her info is certain"

"I am impressed" Urie said nodding half-heartily not bothering to turn to face his friend "She'll give us the remaining info after we pay the compensation"

"So you're not going to tell Nekisan?" Shirazu asked but not overall surprised by Urie's behaviour, he had worked with the purple head long enough to know what he was thinking and this Quinx experiment and Aogiri hadn't changed him a bit.

"As long as Centipede is our mentor…" Urie said turning to Shirazu wearily "We have to operate as part of the Quinckes squad controlled by him, even if we achieve something he'll report it to the higher-ups as the QS Squads…"

"So what are ya getting at?" Shirazu asked, he didn't like the way Urie was talking at this moment.

"What I mean is that he'll be the one who's credited for it, understand that?"

"What?!" Shirazu gasped in disbelieve, now if it was four months ago Shirazu would have just believed Urie right there but now things were different "But why would Nekisan do that? You know how he _really_ feeling about Aogiri he hates the lot of them and wants to leave once he has what he wants so why would he want to be promoted?"

"Don't you understand" Urie said with an eye roll "The faster and better Centipede does for Aogiri the more they start to trust him and then the more information he gains, so basically the QS plan is just a big stepping stone for him to get closer to those like Eto then when he gets what he wants he will escape and leave us to deal with the mess"

"Shut up Urie!" Shirazu screamed standing up feeling the sudden boiling anger and hatred in his gut for the Quinx before him "I might of fell for your mind games months ago but things have changed, Nekisan has save our lives in more ways than one and this is how you thank him! Have you forgotten all the pain he's gone through for us so we would survive, so we would not fall victim to Aogiri sadistic ways? Without him Saiko would dead! We would be eating ghouls and humans alike, we would be monsters! But no Kaneki has took all that burden on his shoulders so we don't have to! You make me sick Urie! I'm going back to the 18th ward and give the information to Nekisan don't try to stop me…."

But Urie didn't bother he just watched the orange heads back as he stormed off, not bothering to mention the increase of money a promotion would get them because in the end Aogiri was not that much different to the CCG, they had their ranks, their pay, their battles but just have different goals. It was then Urie wished he had gotten those pictures of Shirazu before he stormed off.

Xxx

Keeping the pictures zipped up safely in his jacket pocked Shirazu climbed down the back of the office building not worrying if anyone would see him but just wanted to get home to the 18th ward which is what he should have done after leaving Chie in the burger bar. Right now the only thing on his mind was to jump on the next train to the 18th ward and give his info to Nekisan and maybe play some video games with Saiko and train with Mutsuki and Hinami and that's his day done but he wasn't expecting that at the moment his feet hit solid ground to be greeted by a sharp stabbing pain in the left side of shoulder.

The ex-investigator bit back a cry as he stumbled to turn and face the attacker as he pulled a sharp object from his shoulder to find it to be a piece of red and purple Ukaku. He looked up to find a plain brown haired woman in her mid-thirties standing there in normal jeans and jacket holding something which seemed to be a modern day version of a crossbow but it fired Ukaku shards?

"I don't know ya think your doin'" The woman said in a very strong accent which seemed to be American "but where I come from climbing down from office buildings is a pretty shady thing to do, I'm sure the Japanese police would agree".

"You're an investigator?" Shirazu asked, this woman didn't look like an investigator and didn't act like on either, she wasn't in uniform nor did she seem to have any squad with her like a normal CCG investigator would. Something about her reminded Shirazu of the British guy that attacked Kaneki last night….

"I see you recognise a quinque…" The woman said with a smirk "you're a ghoul I presume?" Shirazu grinned showing his shark like teeth and whipped this hair off his eyes showing of his grey and red Kakugan.

"Close enough lady…" And using his new ghoul like speed Shirazu leapt forward activating the kagune from between his shoulder blades and shot at mercilessly at the investigator with his claw-like missiles wishing he brought his mask along, he did want to kill her but it had to be done. The woman wasn't as good or as fast as the male they had seen last night but she managed to roll out the way struggling to dodge the missiles but she manag ed to get up on one knee and fired her crossbow with Ukaku crystals shooting out towards the Quinx.

Unfortunately Shirazu's kagune wasn't really made for blocking off attacks he could only roll to the ground just as the woman had done but the American's crossbow had much more accuracy than his kagune and he felt four or five of them stick themselves into his right leg, he cried out again wondering why no one was running to see the commotion. For some reason that thought remained him of when he visited Nutcrackers house.

"Honestly for something with such an interesting kagune and kakugan I would of expected more of a fight" The woman said stepping closer to the injured Quinx, "Seriously you don't get to kill ghouls in the States, the USGEP only captures ghouls and uses them like hunting dogs to kill more violent ghouls that can't be controlled, Japan is one of the few countries that sticks to the old ways and to be honest I'm getting such a rush out of it!" And in a spilt second the woman had reloaded her crossbow and pointed it towards Shirazu's head, he looked towards his leg and felt the pain going more numb than anything, was it worth running? Could he get away?

But he didn't need to decide because suddenly felt a shadow falling closer and closer towards him, the Quinx looked up and only got the split second of Kuki Urie coming down from the roof with his blade like Koukaku coming down onto them. Luckily the American investigator looked up just in time to move out the way and have Urie crash between the Quinx and the investigator. The woman couldn't help but smile at the sight,

"Interesting…another one-eyed ghoul with a single grey Kakugan and strange Kagune" She said "Are you going to impress me boy?"

"You won't live long to be impressed" Urie said before jumping up to slice at the woman again, his steal like kagune blocking the bullets of Ukaku shards but then the only sound left was clicking, the American had run around of bullets and Urie was only inches away from her. He had won but why was the woman smiling? It was Shirazu that worked it out first.

"Urie!" He screamed but it was too late, the woman had yanked up the front of the crossbow and let a shiny thin but long blade shot out stabbing Urie though the middle of his chest. His kagune suddenly went limp and the investigator let the Quinx slid down her blade and crumple onto to the ground.

"Well that was eas…" But she didn't get to finish her sentence because Shirazu was already up on his feet and the Ukaku shards that were stuck in his leg had fallen to the ground and now it was time for Shirazu to make the final move, the kagune in-between his shoulder blades was already producing the claw like missiles and with what limited accuracy he had the missiles had shot though the middle of her chest making the investigator stubble backwards and with one sudden movement Urie shot up from the ground, sick of playing dead, and sliced the lone investigator though the middle making her collapse to the ground. Then there was silence…

"This is bad Urie…" Shirazu said shaking his head stepping back away from the body "Very bad…"

"Well your welcome for saving your life" Urie mumbled putting his kagune away and turning back towards Shirazu with a picture of calm on his face contrasting to Shirazu's panic stricken expressions. "Remember I'm getting the credit for this…."

"Credit!" Shirazu nearly screamed, his put his hands though his hair in stress and worry, did Urie not understand the situation they were in "We just killed an investigator! Someone's going to find her body, what if it gets tranced back to us by the CCG or even Aogiri?!"

"Or more importantly how did she find us…?" Urie asked in wonderment not really considering Shirazu's feeling or not even noticing when the American woman's eyes started to flicker open as she moved her hand suddenly on her quinque. The only warning the two Quinx had was the noise of a click but the two neither had turned until a sudden flash of black and red shot between them as the scarlet red rinkaku stabbed the woman right in the chest. Shirazu's and Urie's eyes widened as they recognised their savour.

"Nekisan…" Shirazu said staring at his out of breath tutor as he pulled his rinkaku out of the woman and they heard the footsteps of Mutsuki running towards them. Kaneki's kagune started to evaporate as he turned to face the three members of his team feeling hot and annoyed with anxiety burning in his chest, Shirazu shuddered under his mentors gaze.

"Don't…Let…Your…Guard…Down…" The half-ghoul breath while looking menacing as ever and Mutsuki felt lucky that the Centipede's anger wasn't directed at him.

"I'm finishing her…" Urie started but Kaneki stopped him,

"She's already dead!" He snapped "She wouldn't be if you two didn't act so independently! What the fuck where you thinking? Leaving the base and going to fifth ward of all places!"

"But were fine, really" Shirazu said shakily putting on a fake smile "We haven't been seen…"

"Don't bull-shit with me Shirazu, an investigator found you!" Kaneki said trying to keep his voice as controlled as he could, but he was so close to screaming. "What if some else saw you! You haven't even got your masks have you? What if you had gotten killed?!"

"Why are fussing?" Urie said putting his earphones back in ears "Thanks to us there is one less investigator to worry about besides even if we take a hit it'll regenerate in no time".

"You don't get it do you?" Kaneki said with a sigh "You've worked for the CCG before? You know how they act once they discover once one of their own is dead they will bring more doves into the ward and what if they discover Touka or any of my other friends? Or trace this back to us? You didn't think did you?!"

"If Aogiri is going to continue to hide we won't get anything done" Urie said as he turned his back on the squad "Besides you should stop worrying about other people, it will get you killed in the end….Centipede"

Kaneki bit his lip in frustration as he watched the Quinx walk away deeper into the shadows with Mutsuki running after him. He was starting to worry about Urie more and more these days. Although the Quinx where basically classed as humans with build in quinques he felt that the more days they sent in Aogiri the more ghoul like Urie was becoming. It was then he felt Shirazu tap his shoulder,

"Hey Nekisan" He spoke quietly with his head down and Kaneki suddenly felt guilty for swearing at him before, there was no doubt that Urie had talked the orange haired Quinx into it and he saw that the young male had taken a bunch of photos from his pocket "Some girl found us in the sewers and she gave us these" He passed the pictures towards Kaneki who took them and gave them a quick look view and his eyes widened as he recognised the man pictures as guy who attacked him last night.

"Who was this girl?" Kaneki asked feeling the suspicion sinking in,

"She called herself Chie Hori" Shirazu said nervously "She only gave the pictures and said she would give us the rest of the information if we pay her with one of your clothes, does she mean something to you?"

Kaneki sighed in annoyance and gave the pictures back to Shirazu "Don't show anyone else those pictures nor tell them about Chie Hori" Kaneki ordered "Come on, before the others realize we're gone…"

Xxx

The meeting had come to an end and Arthur was the first to leave the room with a light smile on his face, him personally thought that the meeting had gone very well although he did believe he had made an enemy of Matsuri Washuu and probably a couple of others, he thought this as he looked out of the giant glass window ignoring the chattering figures that walked passed him, like everyone else they ignored him but he believed that he made at least one friend when he heard Akira Mado shout his name,

"Mr Reed!" She shouted and the male turned to see the older woman walking quickly towards him with a smile on her face,

"Thank you for joining the meeting" She said gratefully with a slight bow "I think you got everyone seeing this case in a new light and with you I feel we could get somewhere with Centipede and Aogiri Tree"

"Well it's what I'm here for" The Brit said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head, it was true after all.

"I think it's good that the CCG is making ties with other countries" The woman said smiling "You come from Britain don't you? But your Japanese is excellent, does the BCGM usually teach their investigators different languages?"

"They like us to know at least a second language" Arthur said with a shrug hoping that his smooth talk would hide his nervous, he wasn't used to these people taking such an interest in him "Maybe I can tell you about it sometime"

"Maybe" Akira said with a shrug "It must be interesting what they teach in the BCGM for you to understand the situation so well, it's a shame we can't predict Aogiri's next move".

"I wouldn't worry about that" The Brit said with a wink and cheeky grin spread across his face "A friend of mine from the USA is coming today and trust me she has a good noise for sniffing out ghoul activity…" But unfortunately he stopped when an office woman came running up to the pair.

"Arthur Reed?" The office woman asked the Brit who nodded suddenly wondering what the woman looked so flustered "I'm sorry to tell you this but the main office thought you should know that the police found the body of a middle-aged woman in the fifth ward, her passport said she was an American investigator from the USEGM who went by the name of Victoria Cysice she was a partner of yours?"

It was then Arthur felt the whole world stop around him, the noises of Mado and office woman went unheard, although the feeling of sadness or anger wasn't there. One of his friends had been killed, his strongest and most reliable. She wasn't someone who could be put down easily. This was very interesting…

"Where?" He asked, keeping his voice calm and neutral not wanting the two woman to sense his curiosity over his grief.

"There is already car waiting outside for you" The woman said and with that the suddenly interested Arthur storming passed the woman leaving Akira with the decision to go back to her desk and train join her squad or to follow the young British man. She went with the second option.

Xxx

Less than half-an-hour later Arthur Reed and Akira Mado were already at the scene of the crime, they had to push their way through the curious crowds citizens standing around a normal looking office building to get to the yellow police tape and the officers standing around blocking off the entrance. Once they showed the police their badges they were lead down the back of the office building away from the crowed street and greeted by Nobu Shimoguchi and a few of his squad members.

"Shimoguchi?" Akira explained "How did you get here so fast? You were in the meeting with us?"

"We only got here a couple of minutes before you" Shimoguchi said was he watch forensics snapping pictures around the area, particularly a woman with her guts torn out with a big hole though her stomach. "We won't be able to find the ghoul who killed her until we match up the ukaku shards with past ukaku marks"

"A ukaku ghoul?" Arthur said quietly as he looked down at the body of his former partner "She has a large hole though her stomach how could a ukaku do that? Unless there where two ghouls here…"

"Yeah I was wondering that myself" Shimoguchi said as he stepped towards the body "so far it's said to a rinkaku attack yet there are these what seem to be ukaku shards that were found on her body and scattered on the ground" Shimoguchi pulled out a bag and handed them to Arthur for him and Mado to see, they weren't your standard Ukaku crystals these looked more like claw missiles and seemed solid to the touch like they were handmade and won't disparate along with the kagune, they seemed very familiar…

"I don't think you will able to match these Ukaku shards with anything" The Brit said as he handed them back to Shimoguchi "these look artificial and are not produced from your normal ukaku. I knew Victoria for a long time, she was a strong and capable investigator who was heading towards Special Class she wouldn't be taken down this easy so it narrows are options"

"So are you saying that only an S rated ghoul or above could do this?" Akira asked "But why would such a strong ghoul be here of all places? It would be seen wouldn't it? And why would they attack a lone investigator?"

"Yeah it's very strange behaviour for an S rated type" Shimoguchi said rubbing his chin in thought "Particularly in pure daylight by a public where anyone could see, even normal ghouls rarely do that"

"What if the ghoul didn't want to kill her but had to?" Arthur said as his rubbed the side of his face,

"You did say before you had a friend who was good at sniffing out ghoul behaviour?" Akira said before nodding towards the dead woman "Is this the woman?"

"Yes" Arthur said nodding "Knowing Victoria if she suspected any ghouls around she would always attack first that was the type of person she was, so one possibility is that the ghoul defending himself but this is very obvious if you look at the details"

"The details?" Shimoguchi asked, his eyebrows narrowing in annoyance. There was something he didn't like about the Brit, was it his cleverness or how calm he was after seeing one of his partners dead body?!

"Yes" Arthur nodded "If we assume it was the rinkaku ghoul that killed her it would have to be strong one to deal with her so quickly, if you look there are hardly any wounds anywhere else on her body to show there was a struggle or a long fight so the battle didn't last long also has any other rinkaku marks been found at crime scene?" It was then one of the forensic officers came forward,

"I hear what you are saying" The man said "But the only marks found had belonged to an ukaku user and a koukaku user but you tell just by looking at the poor woman's wounds that rinkaku did this"

"I see, so there was three ghouls" Akira said "A ukaku, a rinkaku and a koukaku…"

"Yes but let's try to say on topic" The Brit interrupted "We were talking about why the ghouls attacked and how I believe this fight wasn't planned but random, do notice something else strange about the body?"

"Not really" Akira started to say but then something started to his her "Now that you mention it apart of the hole in her stomach all her limbs are intact there are no bite marks to show they were doing this to fed and they also must have been in a rush since they didn't bother to clean up the body"

"Perfect" Arthur said beaming and he turned to the forensic scientist he spoke to before "you said you found marks belonging to a koukaku?"

"Yes sir" The scientist nodded as he pointed down a bit further down on Shimoguchi's right where another forensic scientist was taking pictures, the group looked other her shoulder to find something what looked like a sword marks engraved into the ground.

"There is still a lot of examining and data to put together before we can conclude on how the koukaku user was related to the victims death" Shimoguchi said "I suggest we wait until the body has been examined until we do anymore theory cracking"

"So you have been put on the case Shimoguchi-san?" Akira asked with a slight smirk and Shimoguchi turned away.

"Well someone has too" He said shrugging "but if this is the work of more than one S rated ghouls then it might be connected to another squad's mission or even Aogiri"

Arthur didn't say anything but he silently agreed with Shimoguchi as he stared down at Victoria Cysice lifeless body, maybe her death was his way of getting one step closer to Aogiri and Centipede?

Xxx

The half-ghoul and the four Quinx were now back in the 18th ward, Kaneki thanking whatever God was up there that no one had noticed they were gone, unless Athena or Takizawa told on him which seemed unlikely. Right now he was going to find Hinami, he found the girl locking herself in her bedroom there were speakers around her room including books and a single bed which the girl was sitting on. When she noticed her brother opening the door she put her book down and ran to give her brother a hug and Kaneki hugged back.

It felt like forever since he last hugged the younger ghoul, he realised she must have been worrying over him and he couldn't blame her. Kaneki was never around her much these days since training the Quinx and dealing with other Aogiri leaders had taken much of his time and mental strain but he was ok and so was she, they won't let anything happen to each other.

"Is everyone ok?" Hinami asked pulling away a little from the male ghoul "Did you find them? Have they noticed you were gone? Where did you go?"

"Sush" Kaneki said putting his figure to his lips "got something interesting to show you"

And with that the two sat together on the bed, Hinami looked though the pictures Chie had given Shirazu and he told her everything Shirazu had told him.

"You know what this means, don't you onii-chan?" Hinami said feeling troubled but hopeful as she finished listening to the half-ghoul "It mean Re is looking out for us! Chie must of somehow found out what happened last night before it went on the news, got the info on the guy who attacked you and gave them to Urie and Shirazu to help"

"Must of" Kaneki nodded "And for more information she wants Urie and Shirazu to give her one of my clothes meaning she would probably put a tracking device on the garment then give it back to pair to return to me, its simple trick"

"But how would Chie know where to find them?" Hinami asked "I know she's good but she can't have guessed where they would be"

"On the train Shirazu said they were going to see the Provider" Kaneki said scratching his head in thought "that must be one of Chie's sources, I'm going to have to speak with him?"

"Will you go tonight?" Hinami asked "If so I'll come with you!"

"That's fine" Kaneki said with a nod and a smile, happy to spend some time with his sister with just the two of them even though they were going to go somewhere dark and dank to meet someone ten times more crazy than himself. "But it might have to wait until tonight to get permission and besides I need to get the squad together, we need a serious talk" Hinami nodded and followed her brother out the room to get the four Quinx back together for a meeting.

Xxx

Touka, Hide and Yoriko had got off the bus back from the 23rd ward where they were now walking silently back to Re. The trio had went to the 23rd ward to try to examine the crime scene from last night, once they got there the road had been blocked off and cars were guided to take another route but because it was a main road it couldn't be blocked off long so they only had to wait half-an-hour until the scene was all cleaned up and was made access to the public again but once the trio got there, there wasn't much to explore.

The broken cars and van had been taken and the cars that were now driving on the road made it impossible to check there so they could only stay to the paths and check the buildings where Aogiri and Kaneki might had jumped from but it was fruitless. Whatever kagune marks that were made that night was either covered by the rush of cars or there hadn't been any at all. So now they trudged miserably back to Re with hopes still high but they were back to where they started.

It was the afternoon so everyone would be working so once they entered the coffee shop the only people there was Yomo behind the counter and a couple of customers (all ghouls) where sipping coffee and talking among themselves so it was no surprise when Hides eyes immediately locked onto a certain purple haired man that had the face and body of a model and wore the brightest and flamboyant suit that Hide had ever laid eyes on.

"What the hell took you so long to get here?" Touka asked, hands on her hips and while Hide and Yoriko just stared at the man they hadn't seen in months,

"My, my Touka-chan just the warm welcome I expect from you…" The newcomer said before taking a slow sip of his coffee it was then Hide stepped forwards pushing Touka back a little.

"Perfect timing…Tsukiyama-san…."

 **Sorry if the chapter is shorter but this seemed like a great place to stop. So Tsukiyama has finally entered the story, seriously I've been looking forward to putting him in for a while now and hopefully with him this will be fun and move more quickly. I do love his character and if you have read the latest chapters of Re I feel so bad for him and for Shimoguchi too that's why I put him in, it was just going to be random investigator taking on Victoria Cysice's murder but for honour of** **Nobu Shimoguchi I think I need to put him in.**

 **By the way I'm still getting a grip on Arthur Reed's character I want him to be a nice character but can have a cold view on things, I don't want to make him too sane and the Guest who commented on it before has a right to worry.**

 **I think this arc will end in the next two or three chapters and I still need to come up with a name for it, I'm thinking the 'Investigator Arc' what do you think?**

 **As usual I thank Guest, Guest, tats magicalmcguffins, Flowering Lotus and nissangtrlover2569 for reviewing the next chapter.**


	28. Investigator Arc: Effective Experiments

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 4: Effective Experiments**

Once Hide, Touka and Yoriko where sat around the table with Tsukiyama it was time to put all the facts and information together, it was Tsukiyama who started off the meeting,

"Oh it so good to have the old gang back together si?" The flamboyant ghoul said with just dramatics that Hide was worried if someone would hear, "If only the darling Kaneki and princess Hinami were here then everything would be perfect!"

"I wouldn't call this the 'old gang'" Touka said a little to coldly as she leaned across from Tsukiyama, despite her hate and mistrust of the Gourmet he was a reliable and powerful alley and even though he had been traveling around Europe for almost half the year he was still good at picking up information and now that he was back in Japan it was time to put that information to use.

"Yes I would have to agree" The Gourmet said sadly as he took a sip from his coffee "but coming home to familiar faces is enough for me…I suppose you've seen the news about what happened last night?"

"Yeah" Hide nodded "We went to the scene but it's impossible to get anything with it being made access for the public again…"

"Yes I thought that would happen" Tsukiyama said with a nod "That's why I got the little mouse to look into it, she said she will be coming later apparently she has some interesting information for us"

"But at the moment it's you who has to contribute" Touka said with a sly smirk, prepared to challenge the Gourmets uses "Tell us what you have learnt on your travels and please keep it relevant to the case"

"Why of course…"Shuu said and Hide was sure that if the ghoul in front of him was standing he would have curtsied but instead he took out a small notebook from one of his large jacket pockets and flicked though it "I'm not if this will help with the Kaneki case but you should be aware that you might meet some….peculiar Doves if you are not careful"

"Peculiar?" Yoriko asked, it was the first time she had spoken since she had down and she couldn't help to glance at Touka in worry "How do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that some foreigners might be assisting the CCG for a little while and it seems that they have their own way of dealing with ghouls" Alarm bells had started to ring in Hide's head, he knew it wasn't just Japan who had a problem with ghoul, the Japanese CCG had a close relationship with a CCG in Germany and because of this they had the same way of going about things so Hide couldn't help but wonder what countries Tsukiyama was referring too but it was Touka who asked the question first.

"And what countries are these?" She asked and the Gourmet flicked to a page in his notebook

"There is the United Kingdom that call their CCG the BCGM and the United States that have the USGEP" Tsukiyama answered "It seems these two countries, including a few other western nations, are working together to come up with a new strategy for dealing with us ghouls and they want to bring this idea into Asia, to be honest their idea is actually quite interesting"

"An idea that could destroy all ghouls?!" Touka gasped as she felt her heart hammer in her chest in fear, if the western countries, America in particular had come up with a new plan to kill them then there was a good chance it would be effective yet Tsukiyama was calm with a smile on his face as he shook his head

"Oh no quite the opposite" The Gourmet said "They want to help us…well the peaceful ghouls at least"

"To help ghouls?" Hide questioned, he couldn't help but feeling that he had heard this idea before from somewhere, at home maybe or when he worked for the CCG? He wasn't sure but he had an idea what Tsukiyama was going to say.

"A few years back The United States had started a program called the USGEP which stands for United States Ghoul Enforcement Program". The Gourmet said before finishing his cup of coffee and nodding to Yomo for a new one, then he continued "They must have known that the ghoul population was too large and too strong for the humans to handle so instead of getting rid of the threat they decided to embrace it as you might call it"

"Are you trying to say that they use the ghouls as some sort of police?" Hide asked and the idea couldn't help but interest him, it would be a chance to show that not all ghouls are evil.

"Like slaves" Touka said and that brought down Hide's hopeful mood.

"I don't know, the ones in Britain seemed quite happy" Shuu said with a shrug "They don't need to hunt for meals anymore and they are given a place in society and they have their own houses and families, it's really quite interesting"

"That's sound too good to be true" Yoriko said but going by her voice Hide could tell that she was impressed and must be thinking along the same lines as himself "But one question, something at that scale must take a lot of time and cooperation and if these big countries are doing it how come it's not known here in Japan?"

"Well Japan does have a history of being a 'closed off' county" Tsukiyama said "Besides since ghouls can blend so well into human society it's not like the British or American public could tell the difference between a ghoul or human and with ghouls working with the government to capture more violent and unwilling ghouls they don't really have anything to fuss about".

"But it's a perfect plan" Hide couldn't help blurt out excitedly "If the CCG could do this then there will be no need for innocent men and woman to get killed in raids or battles and there would be less ghoul attacks"

"Yes I was wondering that myself" Shuu said nodding agreement "Most over countries like France, Canada, Italy and Spain seem to be considering using this method the countries which are strongly against it however are Japan and Germany"

"Seriously how come?" Touka asked and Hide wondered about her true feeling on the program,

"That's an interesting question indeed" Tsukiyama said nodding "Although I do have a few theories…" But the Gourmet ghoul was interrupted when a small mouse like woman burst the door of Re breaking the quiet and peaceful atmosphere and filling it with bubbly and curious interest. The group stared as Chie Hori as she bounced their way up to them her eyes wide in excitement and Hide wondered what she had found,

"Guys you wouldn't believe who I just met!"

Xxx

It did not take long for Kaneki and Hinami to get the three Quinx together, Saiko was still in bed and there was no point trying to awake her so Kaneki, Hinami, Mutsuki, Shirazu and Urie sat on the sofas of their own personal lounge. Each group had their own room which they could personalise and meet up when they didn't use the research rooms. The Quinx lounge was quite small but comfortable with soft red leather sofas, bookshelves running along one wall, a small kitchen and a TV.

Although the room was comfortable and atmosphere felt heavy and enclosed and Kaneki had to force himself to sit down and not to stand up making himself look powerful because it wasn't about that, it was no different to when he worked at the college he had to treat his subordinates equally and with respect or he wouldn't get any back, it was the basic teaching practice.

"To start off" Kaneki started as he looked at each of the Quinx in turn "I'm not going to lecture on Shirazu's or Urie's action today I think it's best to keep it under the rug and make sure it doesn't happen again" Shirazu nodded obediently while Urie shrugged keeping no eye-contact whatsoever. However Kaneki ignored him and took out the pictures Shirazu gave him and spread them out over the coffee table. "Shirazu has told me how he got these, from a girl named Chie Hori, I don't want anyone meeting this girl until I've given the word"

"She's one of your old friends isn't she" Urie said but it was more like a statement than a question and Kaneki nodded

"Yeah, it might be possible that Chie is using you three to learn more about where me and Aogiri are and how to get close to me, this is dangerous not only for us but for her and Re as well we only need to stay in Aogiri a little longer…"

"How much longer?" Urie asked, keeping his head up to rest his neck on the sofa as he tapped his feet impatiently "Also what do you mean by 'we'? All of us have our own reasons to be staying with Aogiri, you and Fueguchi have somewhere to go but what about us?"

"Er...Nekisan" Shirazu said nervously putting his hand up "Urie has a point on this one, the world believes we're dead, the only one with family is Saiko but she can't go back and with the way our bodies are now there is no way that CCG will welcome us back"

"They will kill us on sight…" Mutsuki added silently that made the room once again go tense and Kaneki couldn't help but hate how this was going, thankfully Hinami stepped in.

"We told you…" Hinami said so gently that everyone had to turn towards her voice "We will sort it out…We have friends and there are loads of places to hide, we don't even have to stay in Tokyo…" It was then Urie stood up, sicking of hearing all the talk, he wanted to finish this meeting now,

"Don't worry Centipede" The Quinx said with a sneer in his voice that Kaneki couldn't help but take it as a threat "I will find your little investigator before the week is out, there is no reason for you to get involved"

"Urie!" Shirazu and Mutsuki shouted but he ignored them and strolled towards the door,

"You just carry on playing spy Centipede" Urie said with his back towards them so they couldn't see the smirk appearing on his face "I will get this case done before you"

"My name is Kaneki…" Is all the half-ghoul could say before Urie could leave the room and slam the door shut behind him.

If Kaneki was on his own he would have screamed with frustration but instead he kept his hands clenched on his lap and his head down, Hinami who was the closest to him put a soft hand on his shoulder but not having the words to say anything.

"I'm sorry Nekisan…" Shirazu said keeping his eyes low and hands pressed together in worry and guilt "I made things worse didn't I?"

"No" Kaneki shook his head, he lift his head up to try and meet his young subordinate in the eyes "What you said was understandable, I don't blame you for wanting to stay with Aogiri…. your sister…"

"Its fine" Shirazu said finally lifting his head up and Kaneki knew he must of hit a nerve when he saw the hurt and anger in his eyes but they softened when Shirazu forced a smile "What's the plan?" He asked and Kaneki took a breath.

"I do have a favour to ask you" Kaneki said almost feeling guilty for asking but he had no one else who could do the job "I want you to join up with Urie"

"What!" Shirazu gasped with a look of disgust on his face and in normal situation Kaneki could have laughed but instead his kept his face straight, he felt bad for asking but it had to be done.

"I'm sorry" The half-ghoul stood up giving his subordinate a slight bow "But you are the closest to Urie and I think he will talk to you more" Shirazu smiled and waved away his teachers politeness

"It's cool Nekisan" The orange head said "You can trust me to watch over the asshole"

"Thank you" Kaneki nodded as he watched Shirazu stroll out the room leaving it in a more quitter and friendly manner than his friend. So the only ones left were Kaneki, Hinami and Mutsuki.

"So what's our first move Onii-chan?" Hinami asked once the half-ghoul took his seat back on the sofa

"Well…" Kaneki started "Like I said to you before we are going to see the Provider until tonight, Mutsuki" He turned towards the lone Quinx "You don't need to come, I want you to watch over Saiko and to see if you can find anything about the American CCG I think Shirazu heard the dead woman call it the USGEP?"

"On it sir!" Mutsuki saluted and trio stood up with plans in mind and a goal of getting closer to the strange investigator before Urie does.

Xxx

Shirazu had found Urie coming out of Doctor Kanou's office and the orange haired Quinx ran to catch up with the other Quinx, he had forgotten that the Doctor was meant to test their RC levels today but he would leave it till later, at this moment he had goal to complete.

"Yo Urie" Shirazu said running up to the purple head yet Urie didn't turn,

"Stop following me" He said softly, Shirazu heard him perfectly but decided to ignore him.

"So where are we going?" Shirazu asked following lazily behind with his arms above his head and putting on the lazy look on his face,

"We are going to see the 'Quinque Hunter" Urie answered without missing a beat and Shirazu looked the Quinx in surprise, why would they need to see the Quinque Hunter if they have one built into their bodies?

"That person we can't tell if it's a man or a woman?" Shirazu questioned and Urie rolled his eyes at the other Quinx stupidity though he should be used to it by now. The two were now going up the stairs which lead out of the underground into the outside building where The Grave Robber had a room to him or herself.

The Grave Robber had a large room to his self on the second floor, the pair had to walk up a few flights of stairs to get there but it was nothing that they couldn't handle but what Shirazu couldn't handle was the silence and the airiness of the unpainted staircase and the annoying creaking under his feet but there was also Urie's silent treatment that gave Shirazu the most uneasy feeling. It was true that Urie was not the most talkative guy and didn't always explain his actions but these days, since the Quinx experiment and Aogiri Tree something had changed in Urie that Shirazu didn't like.

Soon enough the pair reached Grave Robber's room and Urie knocked loudly on the door and they were answered by a small crash then the door was sudden slammed open to reveal a very irritated looking Grave Robber, but in Shirazu's eyes the Quinque Hunter always looked irritated.

"What do you test lab rats want?" The ghoul grumbled, the Grave Robber made it no secret that he (or she?) didn't think much of the Quinx children, unsurprisingly many of the ghouls in Aogiri had this attitude towards them but they never tried anything, more likely because they were scared of Kaneki and Eto.

"We were sent by the Doctor to get new Quinque" Urie answered just as coldly and Shirazu raised an eye-brow at the words but the Grave Robber just sighed in irritation.

"I thought that would be the case" he said as he opened the door wider to let the two Quinx in, it was their first time entering this room, Shirazu personally thought that the room was large too large for one person, the room was decorated with machinery and tools which must be used for creating the quinque. There was also a large crafting table with rows and diffreant type of quinque that Shirazu couldn't name, some looked impressive and some looked pretty average and he wondered how many of the quinque were made by Grave Digger and how many were stolen from dead investigators.

"So how did last night go" Grave Digger asked more out of curiosity than concern of the Quinx wellbeing.

"Super of course" Shirazu smiled not wanting to look like the third wheel in this and Urie couldn't help but wonder why he let the idiot tag along.

"It's going great…" Urie said and the images on the photographs given to them by Chie Hori, despite Kaneki's warning he wondered how he would see the mouse like woman again.

"A plain type Tsunagi, I'm sure you two our familiar with them" The Grave Robber said taking them from her table and handing them to the two Quinx to examine and Shirazu noticed they did look similar to the ones they used at the auction raid but they weren't the same, he could see that Grave Robber must of made these.

"You two" The ghoul started, he eyebrows knotted in seriousness and with a little concern in his eyes that Shirazu couldn't help but notice "I know it sounds stupid since so much work and risk has been taken for you to use kagune but you shouldn't neglect the quinque, the CCG have limitless quinque steel and recourse so they can afford to be carless but for Aogiri this a new experiment and thanks the failure of the Quinque steel raid four months ago its slowed down our progress to make new quinque so just be careful"

"Errr stupid question…" Shirazu started, feeling awkward as he forced a smile on his face "Why are we using quinque again?"

"Did the Doctor not explain it to you?" The Grave Robber questioned looking more annoyed than before, but instead he sighed and leaned his back the table.

"I'm not sure how much they teach you in the CCG" The ghoul started "But typically the quinque are used against us ghouls and were created in collaboration between German Commission Chief Adam Gehener and Yoshiu Washuu who was the father of the CCG's present chairman, Tsuneyoshi Washuu. At the time the CCG used firearms but obviously they had no effect on us, we could use firearms on the humans ourselves but using the quinque the CCG spent so long researching on, the weapon they turned our friends and ancestors into will be a comeback to the CCG's efforts showing we can turn their own weapons against them, and if we can learn to use our kagune and quinque together it will give us more fighting power and can overwhelm the opponent, do you understand?".

"I think so" Shirazu nodded "I've seen Nekisan practice it in the training room but I've never seen him using it in combat"

"No we haven't" Urie said nodding "He's an SS rated ghoul I suppose he can use a kagune splendidly but a ghoul using a quinque is unheard off" Shirazu was worried then I the other Quinx had hit a nerve in the Grave Robber, a ghoul who practiced in using quinque and creating them but instead the ghoul grit his teeth and turn away and went back examining his quinque.

"I don't care about whatever ghoul abilities you may have" The ghoul said with venom in his voice "You aren't ghoul and have barely scratched the surface of our world so I don't expect you to understand our reasoning so my advice would be not to question our actions particularly when it comes to Eto and Ken Kaneki, although Kaneki is an artificial half-ghoul his experiences and attitude make him a worthy enemy of the CCG and a powerful ally to Aogiri Tree if you plan to go down that root then you can never go back to the life you once had just remember that"

It was then the two Qunix knew that was their que to leave, with their new quinques in hand they left the room and closed the door behind them it then Shirazu turned to Urie.

"So where are we off to now?" He asked but Urie turned away.

"You need to get your RC cells checked by Kanou" Urie answered coldly "I'm going to investigate more on the CCG and why are bringing foreigners over here, don't worry I won't leave the ward" and with that the purple haired ghoul walked off and this time Shirazu didn't follow him.

Xxx

It won't be for a while until the forensics would be finished with the crime scene so Arthur Reed and Akira Mado had left in one of CCG's cars in an airy silence. Akira was suddenly feeling uneasy at Arthur's lack of response to his former partner's death, maybe this was the British man's way of dealing with grief? She wasn't sure but she made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile Arthur stared out at the window watching the scenery fly by, so far he had spotted ten possible citizens that could be ghouls but he didn't say anything none of them where the ghoul he was looking for.

Not like Ken Kaneki would be stupid enough to show himself in public anyway.

He then wondered if the Centipede ghoul would be coming after him now…He could help but smile at the thought of meeting the famous Centipede again, the Brit drifted his eyes towards Akira Mado. The woman seemed to have an interest in Ken Kaneki and maybe that could use that to his advantage? But it would have to wait for now and he should remember to bring his quinque out tonight. He couldn't help but feel his target would be after him soon enough.

Xxx

"It's lucky that Tatara-san was here today so we could get permission to see the Provider in the day time" Hinami stated as she and Kaneki walked down the sewers that Shirazu and Urie had walked down previously. If she was to be honest Hinami was glad they were able to go down here at day rather than night like Kaneki planned, the darkness and the echoing sound of their footsteps was creepy enough and what made it creepier was that the pair had to rely on their ghoul instincts in navigate instead of bringing touches but at least they weren't hunted by creepy shadows on the walls.

"I know" Kaneki nodded "It means that we can move quicker, I hope the Provider is home now it would be annoying to come all this way to nothing" Hinami shrugged, even though the ghoul in front of her couldn't see.

"I don't know, its gets us out of the base" The girl said sadly as she clutched her jacket tightly around her "I miss home…"

"Me too" The half-ghoul said and the pair carried on walking in silence for a few more minutes until Kaneki stopped suddenly facing the right side of the wall where a hidden door was, it might be due to the blackness but the door blended in well with the rest of the wall it meant that not just anyone could find this place.

Kaneki rabidly knocked on the door four times, stopped then made three slow knocks then they only had to wait for a few seconds for the door to open with a soft creaking sound. It was Hinami's first time visiting the Provider so she didn't know what to expect but what she didn't expect was the door to be opened by a little girl, she looked around eight wearing jeans and t-shirt that looked too big for her, she stared at the pair with large black and red kakugan eyes and long red hair falling over her pale face which mustn't have seen any sun for quit sometime…

"Hello Rin" Her brother greeted as he knelt down to the little girls height with a friendly smile on his face "Is you're Grandfather in?" The little girl called Rin smiled shyly at the Half-ghoul and opened the door wider to let the pair in. Hinami stepped in to a dimly lit staircase which was good since it wasn't too painful on her eyes which would of been used to the darkness of the tunnels.

The pair followed the small girl down the stairs to another door which the girl silently opened and the brother and sister stepped in to be greeted by large room surrounded by bookshelves, cabinets and selves of files and documents that Hinami could hardly see any plan piece of wall behind it. In the middle of the room was sofas, chairs and a large round stone table that looked like it belonged in one of King Arthurs Adventure stories and sitting at that table in a large battered old armchair was the oldest person that Hinami had ever laid eyes on. It was a man which his back hunched over, his small Kakugan eyes scanning over documents and books, his small glasses were sliding over his long crooked nose as he scratched the top of his bold head, the only place with no winkles.

Hinami wasn't sure if the old man, the Provider, knew they were there, Kaneki had to clear his throat a couple of times before the old man looked up at the pair and pushed his glasses further up his nose, the red of his eyes widening.

"Ahh young Centipede…" The old man explained the sound of his voice remained Hinami of sandpaper, it was broken and scratchy like it hadn't been used in years, which is impossible since he was the 'Provider'. "I was wondering when you would come and talk to me again, nice timing I was just about to make some coffee".

"We're ok thanks" Kaneki smiled and waved it off, it wasn't like Kaneki to miss the opportunity of coffee and he gave his sister a sideways glance and she knew to shake her head and turn down the offer.

"Oh well…" The Provider said as he got up to walk to a small kitchen area in the furthers corner of the room, it was then Hinami noticed that the little girl had disappeared,

"Err…" Hinami started "There was a girl here a second ago…"

"Oh that was my Granddaughter Rin" The old man smiled as he boiled the water "She's probably hiding in one of her Dens, there are about ten of them hidden around the place I wouldn't bother looking for them…Now I suppose you are Hinami Fueguchi yes?"

"It's Hinami Sasaki now…" The girl said feeling shy, there was something he didn't like about this man, the way he knew her real name and the way he looked at her like he could her life story, she supposed he didn't get the name 'Provider' for nothing…

"So Eto is not coming today" The old man putting the coffee seeds into the mug,

"She's busy today" Kaneki said shrugging as he moved to sit on one of the arm chairs around the table and Hinami awkwardly sat next to him,

"So tell me, what's it like to be under a woman's thumb?" The Provider asked with humour in his voice,

"It's pleasant as long as it's an excellent thumb…" Kaneki said giving him the thumbs up smiling but Hinami could tell the smile was forced "So how have you been, Provider?"

"Had a couple of visitors last week" The old man shrugged as he sat back down a steaming hot cup of coffee in his hands but to Hinami it didn't smell right…The coffee beans were too old maybe?

"And is one of those visitors Chie Hori?" Kaneki asked and the old man shook his head and giving the half-ghoul a slight tut.

"Now now Kaneki-kun you know I can't give my information away about my customers" The old smiled, his broken and yellowing teeth showing though his dark smile "Such as I don't give information about Aogiri away, you must understand?"

"Yes, yes of course" Kaneki sighed with an eye-roll and he leaned further back in his seat, "actually it's not Chie I want to talk about" It was then Kaneki took out the pictures Shirazu gave him and passed them over to the old man "What can you tell me about this man?"

The Provider peered at the photos, looking at the man closely, "Well's a westerner I can tell you that" He said and Kaneki sighed keeping the feeling of annoyance down,

"Yeah I kinda worked that one out" The half-ghoul said "He has his own Quinque that is the shape of a medieval sword yet he doesn't wear a uniform of a normal investigator and he had a partner that died this morning that has some connection to a CCG in America, do you think you can tell me something about that?"

"Well I can't tell if this young man is American or not" The Provider said "But I can give you information about the American CCG, USGEP I think it's called…" The Provider got up and searched on of his selves mumbling to himself as he ran his long uncut figure nails over documents and files they didn't have to wait long until the old man gave a satisfied 'Ha' sound and snatched up a large yellow folder and flicked though it a bit before passing it over to Kaneki.

"There you are" The Provider said as Kaneki took it in his hands "Its information on the foreign CCG's not all countries are there but I'm sure the US is in there somewhere" "

"Thank you Provider" Kaneki said as he and Hinami stood up and bowed "I will leave one of the pictures with you so please learn all you can about this person"

"Will do" The man nodded as he handed the images back to Kaneki, leaving one for himself. "And I'm sure Aogiri will pay me well for my services?"

"Like always Provider" Kaneki said with a weary smile, he and Hinami where just about to leave until Provider stopped them

"Oh Kaneki-kun" The old man said "I know you will be coming back for more info on the Western chap but one day I'll tell you about a different case so come alone next time…." Kaneki only nodded and he took Hinami by the shoulder and steered her towards the door but not without Hinami eyes catching the dark eyes of a little girl crotched behind on of the large cushions laying on the sofa.

Xxx

Hinami had never felt so good to be out in the sewers in her life, she had hated being in that room with that creepy man with no windows or a clear escape root and she knew Kaneki felt the same as she struggled to keep up with his long strides down the sewers, coming out the way they came.

"I can see you didn't like him much" Kaneki started looking behind him to face Hinami who tried to see her brothers face against the darkness.

"Why is Aogiri keeping him alive?" Hinami asked "He seems to know too much and why waste paying him?"

"The Provider has worked for Aogiri for a long time apparently" Kaneki said "But he does take other customers, which is strange because I never heard of him until we joined Aogiri, but he is a beneficial to Aogiri, therefor for us but we have to have permission to use him so Aogiri knows how much to pay him"

"But what do Aogiri pay him with?" Hinami asked "Money? Food?"

"Maybe it's better if you don't know" Kaneki said mysteriously with a wink and Hinami couldn't help but shiver "I don't really like the guy that much myself" Kaneki started "But one day he'll be disposed of but until that day comes Provider has to keep proving himself, he wants to prove just how valuable he is"

"Just like us…" Hinami said sadly and Kaneki couldn't help but sigh and nod in agreement,

"Yeah…Just like us".

Xxx

Urie was in the research room, he had went on the USGEP's website it was difficult because the website was blocked in certain countries but Aogiri was good at working its self around these things and manged to get access to the website and he found some interesting stuff…

Next Urie was looking over maps of the Japanese GGC building and the wards they occupied, if this guy who they were meant to be researching was a foreigner he doubted he would be working in Japan permanently then he noticed that the CCG had some guest houses in the 2nd ward, was that were our mysterious investigator was staying? He knew the face and what car he used so tonight he would plan his attack and he would do it alone.

 **Yeah the Provider is going to be an important character later on and I'm sure you've noticed that some on the lines in this chapter were taken by chapters 3 and 4 of TG:Re.**

 **This arc only has two chapters left, this arc was meant to only introduce all the characters that will be appearing and info for the next arc will come out in the next couple of chapters but I've planned four arcs at least all going to be much longer than this one so look forward to that.**

 **As always I like to thank the following reviewer's codename00guest, tats magicalmcguffins and nissangtrlover2569 for reviewing the last chapter, it didn't seem the last chapter went to well, oh well lol But I'm glad of the reaction people have of Arthur, it looks like he's going to be the most famous of my OC's which is good because I enjoy writing his character and creepy is what I'm aiming for.**

 **Also sorry if this chapter is later than usual I had to get all my college work in last week, hopefully it won't be so slow next time.**


	29. Investigator Arc: Break In

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 5: Break In**

It was now 5:00 pm in Tokyo and the people of Re were sitting in wait. Touka, Hide, Yoriko, Tsukiyama, Yomo and Chie were in the lounge awaiting for a _certain someone_ to call. Everyone was nervous, not only had Chie told them about meeting Urie and Shirazu and discovered that an American Investigator had been killed which might lead to Kaneki she had also found somebody, an old friend…

Chie didn't explain what she meant by 'call' did it mean that the person was going to ring on the phone or was the said person going to show up at the café? It was then the loud harsh sound of knocking could be heard from down stairs, everyone jumped at the sudden noise that broke the silence. It seemed the noise had come from the back door, everyone glanced at each other and it was silently decided that it would be Touka who would answer it.

Yomo followed the female ghoul down the stairs and everyone waited, Hide now wishing it was he who would answer the door, but of course being a 'defenceless' human it wouldn't be aloud. It was then muffled sounds of a conversation could be heard from downstairs belong to Touka and Yomo and another voice that sounded 'strangely' familiar. It was then three pairs of footsteps could be heard walking up the stairs, the group turned towards the door and Hide stood up when Touka pushed open the door with an unreadable expression which was unlike the strong woman. She walked in to the room followed by Yomo then the third person stepped out and Hide's eyes widened when he recognised the mess of light brown hair, the long white coat and the glasses that stayed up right on his nose.

"Nishio-sempi?!"

Xxx

At this very moment in time Urie had once again snuck out of Aogiri's base, he could laugh at how simple it was to get out of that place, maybe they thought no one would dare disobey Eto and her servants but Urie was confident. The Quinx was already riding the train into the 2nd ward, he had to change trains a few times but he got there and was now standing a couple of meters away from the 2nd wards train station. He knew the risks of coming to the 2nd Ward, the ward belonged to the CCG and was swarming with Doves no ghoul would dare to venture inside unless they had to and for Urie it was worse since he used to work for CCG and he wouldn't know how to explain it if someone who knew him recognised him, particularly when he was meant to be dead.

He would just have to be careful and keep to the shadows…He had already memorised the map he had found to the CCG's guest houses and hopeful find the guy he was looking for. Keeping the hood of his jumper over his head and doing the speed walk though twisted alleyways and backs of shops was a long way to travel and keeping out of the Doves way wasn't making it any easier and for the first time in his life Urie realized just how many white coated investigators there were.

Urie didn't have the time on him but it felt like forever until he came to the back of the CCG's guest houses. It was now he risked trying to look natural and put himself out in the open more since this road only had 'guests' living here meaning people who didn't have any reason to know him. But still he kept his head down and hood up hoping these guests weren't having any visitors from the 1st Ward.

Urie strolled through the row of house trying to look casual but looking for that red car the strange investigator guy owned, Urie unlike Shirazu had no interest or knowledge on cars but he remembered the number plate from the pictures Chie gave him and soon enough he found his car and the house.

The Qunix couldn't help but grin in satisfaction as he noticed that the house lights were off meaning that no one was home. Urie carefully strolled over to the front of the house and noticed that the front was guarded by security cameras and Urie cursed his lack of knowledge, he should of guested that these houses had security camera's even his own and the rest of squad had security camera's around their houses but it was no issue his face was still hidden under his hood and if worse came to worse he had his mask on him and he doubted that the CTV footage would be watched, it would probably go inside a computer in the house.

The Quinx stopped at the front door, of course it would be locked so there was not point of trying to open it, ducking his head more he went down to the side of the house where he found a small window leading him into the kitchen. He was sure if he could get it open he could just about fit though, luckily he came prepared with tools in his large jumper pocket. He felt around until he found a screw driver and he started to work into the window, he got it open in less time than a normal human would, probably thanks to his new ghoul strength and experience. The Quinx pushed open the window and then using the ledge he pushed himself up until his upper body was inside the kitchen then he pushed the rest of his body in using the kitchen work top for balance.

Urie would off liked to think that he moved into the house sneakily and quietly like a spy in one of those cheesy Hollywood movies Saiko makes him watch but in reality the Quinx was struggling to keep balance as he tried to keep his grip on the kitchen counter but failed miserably as he fell to the floor head first with a crash feeling lucky that nothing else had fallen off with him or that would have been painful…

Urie quickly pushed himself up trying not to wobble on his feet, he must off looked like a right idiot now but he manged to tidy himself up and take in his surroundings surprised that no burglar alarm had gone off yet but he couldn't complain. The room was dark but he could tell that he was in a simple clean kitchen that looked like it hadn't been used, maybe this investigator liked to eat out or was just good at cleaning? He wasn't sure.

But this wasn't the room he wanted, he needed 'solid' prove that this was investigator's house, the guy he was looking for and he needed information and hopefully a hiding place so he could pounce on the investigator when he came in and to what? Capture him? Kill him? Didn't Eto say just to investigate him, she didn't say anything about confronting them? Would it matter? Urie explored the house a bit more.

Walking out the kitchen he found himself in a plainly decorated hall and he wondered if he should try the living room first or the upstairs? He went with the upstairs where his bedroom would be, where some _personal_ stuff would be kept. Once the Quinx was upstairs it wasn't hard for him to try and find the bedroom, there were only three doors upstairs, one for the bathroom and two bedrooms but when he opened the first door it was easy to tell that this was where the guy slept.

Though the bed was well made it looked like this room had been personalised with photographs and research material littered on the desk and stuck over the walls and Urie suddenly took interest and noticed nothing else. The Quinx switched on his flashlight and examined the walls and the desk he noticed old newspaper clipping ranging from today to early 2000's, one of the main topics in the newspapers was Ken Kaneki, the Centipede/Eyepatch ghoul and Aogiri but the older newspaper clipping were in English published by company's he had never heard of before but before he could get a chance to translate the foreign words the flashlight began to flicker.

Urie cursed, he hit the failing device but the irritating flashing didn't stop until the torch switched off completely. Urie was internally screaming, things had been going so well and now something as simple as his flashlight had ran out of power just when he had found something important. He wondered if it was worth risking switching on the main lights? He was sure the camera would of caught someone breaking into the house so it wouldn't matter would it? But he had no time to decide until his improved ghoul ears heard the distant sound of footsteps walking towards the front door. Was it the owner? The rustle and clicking of keys confirmed his theory.

Urie's eyed widened in shock and turned to the clock on the wall it pointed to 6:00pm, around the time a CCG Investigator leave to go home but wasn't he here too quickly? He left his car outside his house so he would off needed to walk or take the bus whether he went to the 1st ward or the 2nd ward base, maybe he got off early?

Then he heard a click of the front door opening and Urie knew he had to find somewhere to hide, would he had the time to jump out the window? He was sure he could survive to drop but leaving now would be the same as running away, he hadn't even got the information he wanted. He was lucky this morning but what if Eto or someone with that ranking discovered that he was gone, how could he go back there without prove of his efforts? He shivered at the thought, he knew full well what Eto did to those who failed her and that something he didn't want to face…

Then out of desperation he hurried under the bed and pulled his mask out of his pocket, thank god Uta made it so it folded up or it would be too big to hide so he pulled the mask on just before the hall lights turned on and he heard footsteps going into the kitchen. Urie tried to breath as quietly as he could wondering if he should just stay hidden or if he should make a surprise attack once the Dove enters the room? It was then his fingers fell on something smooth and paper like and Urie turned his head to find a photograph.

The Quinx pulled it towards him to get a better look and strained his eyes to find an image a boy looking no older thirteen, a younger version of the Dove he was supposed to investigate but he had a little girl riding on his shoulders with hair just as messy and short as his but blond with green eyes like his but with a hint of blue in them…She looked familiar.

It was then to Urie's surprise the bedroom door creaked open and the Quinx shoved the old photograph in his pocket and watched as footsteps came closer into the room, once they were in Urie's hand reach the Quinx burst out.

Xxx

Back in Aogiri's base sitting in their lounge Hinami and Kaneki had updated Mutsuki on what happened in the Providers base and trio were now looking though the file that old man had given them, they couldn't help but be impressed.

"Wow I didn't think that so many countries had problems with ghouls" Mutsuki said smiling, some of these countries he had never even heard off. Kaneki nodded as he read the sheets of paper regarding the American CCG, USGEP and he found it very fascinating but the guy who attacked him didn't sound American though but there were other countries that were now following the USGEP's tactics and one of the main supporters was in the United Kingdom.

"Hey you two" He nodded at Mutsuki and Hinami who turned to him suddenly, the pair was sharing the file "Can you find anything on the CCG in the UK, they are very close to American CCG and I think it's where our main guy is from"

The two nodded "I think we've seen it somewhere" Hinami said as she turned back the pages of the file until it was around the front "This is it" she said and pulled out the pages and passed them to Kaneki for him to have a look.

It said that up until eight years ago the UK operated in the same kind of way that Japan does today, just blindly eliminating ghouls but unlike Japan they were having more trouble and seemed to be falling behind on ghoul knowledge compared to Germany. That was until the Americans started to bring in the USGEP and the UK was the first country in Europe to jump on the idea and since then the ghoul attacks had decreased rapidly.

"Hey sensei" Mutsuki spoke up making Kaneki look up from his papers "Do you think we should give this information to Shirazu and Urie?"

"Maybe Shirazu, just to give him the heads up" Kaneki answered "Although I wouldn't be surprised if Urie has this information already…" The half-ghoul was suddenly interrupted by an orange haired Quinx bursting through the door wide eyes and out of breath with a bunch of papers and a laptop under his arm.

' _Well speck of the Devil…'_ Kaneki though as he stood up to hear what Shirazu had to say as he tried to push down the worry in his stomach.

"I-I can't find Urie!" Shirazu gasped out and Kaneki found himself not feeling surprised, he already had a faint idea were the purple haired Quinx had ran off to but he hoped that he was wrong. "I went to our research room and I found these maps…" The Quinx dumped the papers down on the coffee table and the trio pushed Providers file aside to look at the pages which seemed to be maps of Tokyo, the train lines had been outlined and they seemed to start at the 18th ward and leading into the 2nd ward. Kaneki then pulled out another sheet of paper which was blown up version of the 2nd ward showing all its roads, shops and houses and also its alleyways and backstreets which were also highlighted, they seemed to lead into a group of houses which had been circled, he pointed to that area.

"Mutsuki, Shirazu does this area mean anything to you?" He asked, the Doves owned the 2nd ward and asking the two people who used to work there might help. The two ex-investigators looked at the area in thought for a couple of seconds until Mutsuki looked up to face Shirazu.

"Hey…doesn't the CCG own some guest houses in the 2nd ward?"

"Guest houses?" Kaneki asked and Shirazu nodded and turned to his teacher

"Well if I remember right the CCG own some houses in the 2nd ward that's used for guests, investigators that need a temporary home and also use for safe-houses but if we have foreign ghoul investigators in the country it's more likely they would be housed there"

"So…That's were Urie thinks our mysterious investigator would be" Kaneki stated keeping the anger inside away, he couldn't expect Shirazu to watch Urie all the time but if only Urie would just follow simple orders…Did the Quinx want to be punished that bad? Or did Urie just want to make him angry?

"We're going to catch up with him" Kaneki stated putting the papers and he turned to Hinami "I want you to find Eto or Ayato and tell them what's happened, he could hide this once but I doubt we could hide it again besides if Urie plans to go after that investigator…"

"Understood?" Hinami nodded and Kaneki turned back to his two loyal squad members,

"I need you two to get ready and find your masks and quinque, we are going to follow Urie to the 2nd ward and it's going to be dangerous and we could meet some Doves on the way, oh and Shirazu…Is it possible that you and Mutsuki could travel on motorbike? I'm relaying on you two to get there safely and quickly and find Urie if it's not too late"

"But Nekisan, how will you get to the 2nd ward?" Shirazu asked questioned, the Quinx doubted he could fit all three of them on his motorbike which means whatever happened he and Mutsuki would be the first on the scene and would have to wait until their sensei had got there or finish the job before that happened.

"I'm going to more risky way, I'm going to travel by car" Kaneki said frowning when he saw the Quinx and his sisters worried face expressions "don't worry I will take the car with the blackout windows if people don't look to closely I shouldn't be seen…"

"Be careful" Hinami said, not liking this idea at all but did they have any other option? So the group got ready with no plan really in mind.

Xxx

Urie had burst out from under the bed, in everyone worst nightmares everyone is scared that a monster was going to burst out from under the bed and send them to the underworld and that is just what happened to this poor investigator but to Urie's surprise it wasn't the investigator he was looking for.

But the innocent Dove was already a dead man because Urie's kagune had already pierced though his gut and the Quinx watched in shock as the older Japanese CCG investigator fell to the bare wooden floor with a sicking thump leaving a shocked and confused Urie standing there wondering who this stranger of an investigator was. Going by his deduction he couldn't see this house belonging to the stranger, where was the 'real' owner?

But he knew that he didn't need to look far when he felt a presence by the doorway, the Quinx turned just at the corner of his eye to see the same man he had seen in the pictures, his soft green eyes staring almost disapprovingly at the corpse and pool of blood that stained his floor boards. The western investigator did the simple gesture of pushing his drown hair from his fore-head as Urie stood there in shock, not understanding how a human could be so calm in a situation like this.

"Well…now I'm going to be in trouble with the CCG" The guy said in a British accent as he steeped further into the room, his voice sounded so casual though that Urie didn't see it as real "Not only is one of their men dead but its messed up the nicely polished floorboards, I'm going to have to get you to pay for the cleaning bill" He said looking at the Quinx with a smile that could be described a cheeky or embarrassed like a school boys which really didn't fit the mood.

"Yeah" Urie nodded feeling awkward if not disturbed but he had no plan on showing it "Maybe I could dirty the floor more with your guts before the cleaning lady comes and kicks me out" Urie said before stepping forward with his Kagune in full battle mode and aimed towards the investigator. Yet the investigator stayed unmoving keeping that calm annoying smile on his face, time seemed to slow down but Urie didn't seem to notice this if he did he would of seen the slight movement in the investigators arm revealing a long sword like object and stepped out of the way and watched as Urie missed him unable to stop himself as tumbling down the stairs.

Now Urie really felt lucky he came on his own, if his squad heard about how their leader fell down the stairs while trying to kill an investigator it would be the laughing stock of years to come, he felt even luckier at the fact that his didn't stab himself on his own kagune. Feeling and humiliated and Quinx pushed himself up as he heard the investigator coming down the stairs, he looked up to the investigator his face stoic as he leaned his quinque against his shoulder not really noticing that his mask has fallen off.

"You know I don't need CTV cameras to know when someone has broken into my house" The British investigator said as he came down closer the Quinx "To be honest I was expecting the One-eyed ghoul Ken Kaneki to come after me but looking at you you're not that much different" The investigator stared at Urie's single grey and red eye and then at the Koukaku.

"Also…" The investigator started "I got the forensics back before that friends you killed gave me a lift home, it said the ghouls who killed my partner where a rinkaku, ukaku and koukaku you wouldn't happen to be that koukaku user would you?"

"You don't seem too upset for someone who has lost their partner" Urie said getting back into his battle position wishing he was in larger space, this hall was far too small.

"Maybe" The investigator shrugged "but are you sure you want to fight me here? It's a little small…How about we move to a larger location?" Urie had no time to ask what the Brit meant by that before the human shot towards the Quinx at lightning speed and using the blunt of his quinque he strike at the Quinx unprotected head with a painful thump and before Urie could defend himself he was out like a light.

Without wasting anymore time Arthur began to search Urie's body for anything that had been taken and was surprised to find the old photograph of himself and his old friend sitting inside the Quinx pockets. The investigator stared at the photograph for a while before putting it back into his own pocket feeling thankful that he caught the Quinx just in time. He had no doubt more one-eyed ghouls or Aogiri members were one their way, he could deal with body in his room later but he needed to get Urie inside his car and drive them to a larger and less public area but there was no rush he would let the ghouls follow him and maybe get a nice cup of tea in meantime.

Xxx

Shirazu loved his motorbike. The feeling of the wind thought his clothes and the flashing of lights zipping past the glass of his helmet if only he wasn't on a mission or if he had a hot woman besides him but no, he was on a job and it was Mutsuki clinging to his jacket like his life depended on it. The duo were already in the 2nd ward and coming up to the area were Urie had circled on his maps. They had already passed a few Doves on the way but thanks to helmets they hadn't been seen, yet. Coming to the 2nd ward was like taking a trip down memory lane, they remembered the roads and houses and the shortcuts to places but they were dragged back into the present when needed to slow down at the CCG's guest houses.

"Shirazu look!" Mutsuki pointed to a house where they noticed a red car starting and was leaving the drive, not only was this the same car in the picture but if he strained his eyes he could see a familiar figure leaning against the backseat window,

"Urie…" Shirazu mumbled as they spread towards the car but the car was already leaving the street and will be going into the city which will make it harder to catch up with them.

Back in the red car Arthur Reed look in the mirrors to see a motorbike following him, maybe he took too much time with his cup of tea? Of well they were following him now he just had to lead them to that spot luckily he won't need to go far to do it.

"Can't you go faster Shirazu?" Mutsuki screamed as he watched the car get away,

"I'll break the law ya know?!" Shirazu screamed, they couldn't avoid to cause a scene particularly in a CCG area and it seemed that the Dove in the red car knew this all he could do was follow to see were the car would stop surprised that the driver hadn't called back-up. He couldn't help but feel that he was being lead into a trap…But what other choice did they have, he couldn't leave Urie, no matter how much of a dick he was.

But one good thing about following the car was the hope that Kaneki could catch up before something bad happened because going by the direction of the car Shirazu could guess that they weren't going to the 1st or 2nd wards CCG office, it was like they were taking the direction to the port, which would be perfect since it would be quite at this time of day.

They continued to the follow the car and Shirazu waiting for his chance to speed up until all the cars had disappeared it wasn't until Shirazu saw the red car turned into another road, away from the other cars, it seemed that Arthur was making his way to quitter and more deserted road which citizens had no reason to go on and this supported Shirazu's Port Theory.

"This is our chance!" Mutsuki cried out against the noise of the engine "Try aiming at the tires with your kagune!" Shirazu smiled at the idea,

"Easy" He said as his ukaku grown from his shoulder blade being careful not to hit Mutsuki "However don't complain if I miss!" And with that Shirazu aimed his missiles towards the car but the vertical just skidded clumsily out the way,

"You missed!" Mutsuki said, stating the obvious and the orange haired Quinx grit his teeth in annoyance,

"I said don't complain if I miss!" He shouted,

"But you also said it would be 'easy'" Mutsuki spoke and Shirazu couldn't think of a smart comeback besides it wasn't Mutsuki he was mad at, it was the guy who was driving the red car that was causing all the trouble.

Finally they reached the end of the port, the sound of seagulls could be heard against the waves of the sea and the smell of salt water hit the Quinx sensitive noses but they had no time to enjoy it as the car sudden came to a stop and as did the motorbike but Shirazu had no plan of stopping to get to know his target, he had taken his friend after all and to Mutsuki's surprise Shirazu jumped of his motorbike his kagune ready for battle,

"You're an easy target now that you're not moving!" He called to the car as he unleashed the missiles from his kagune but what Shirazu didn't bet on that the investigator would be stupid enough to step out the car but the Dove didn't look bothered as the Ukaku missiles hit his car windows smashing them to pieces completely missing the human.

Suddenly Mutsuki rushed forward ready with his quinque knifes to slash at the investigator now that the path was clear but the human was ready for it and stepped out the way making Mutsuki's knifes hit empty air and was even more surprised when he felt a hand grab his jacket and with unbelievable strength Mutsuki was frown to the side making smash into the piles of boxes of trading materials but still the Quinx felt lucky that he landed there and not into the sea.

"Wow how sudden" The investigator said with a sad shake of the head which almost looked sincere if it weren't for the quinque sword in his hands "I was hoping that we talk for a bit so we could avoid such violence"

"Well when you kidnap our friend you're going to expect some kagune in your car!" Shirazu snapped, feeling the need to be the strong one here besides he needed to bribe time for Kaneki to get here.

"Kidnap?" The investigator questioned tilting his head to the side "Oh no your friend broke into my house, messed up my floorboards and tried to take something important…Oh and you're responsible for the death of a very good partner of mine including the damage done it my car so I think I'm being quite generous really since I could of taken him to the police or worse the CCG although I wouldn't really call him or any of your guys ghouls, tell me why do you only have one kakugan and a grey one at that? New species or a disease maybe?"

"You won't live long to know…" Shirazu started, he didn't want this conversation with this snobby British bastard he looked behind him to see if Kaneki was on his way but he couldn't hear or see anything.

"You know…" The investigator said sounding sad "I do just want to talk, think about it if I wanted to kill you don't you think I would of brought back-up?"

"Maybe you feel that you don't need back-up" Shirazu said, he looked towards the now smashed car to see Urie still sitting the backseat with glass all other him and a bump on his head but otherwise looked ok but he didn't notice that the purple haired Quinx was starting to awake.

"Don't worry about your friend in the car" The investigator said and turned to the piles of box and Mutsuki was crawling his way out of the boxes "Maybe you should worry about your other friends" But that one second when the investigator turned his head that Shirazu began his surprise attack with his new quinque. Being a ukaku he was fast but the investigator was much faster and he lifted his own quinque to meet with Shirazu's, the two pairs of eyes locked.

"So…you really don't want to chat do you?" The investigator said as he pushed the Quinx back and Mutsuki couldn't help but watch, he had lost with quinque knifes and he couldn't help but notice how bad the situation was getting. His teacher still hadn't come, Urie was knocked out and Mutsuki was unarmed with a kagune that wouldn't even come out but he tried anyway but it was useless…

Back in the car Urie was already awake if not feeling a little sick and dizzy, his head felt like a drum the consent banging in his brain was making his eyesight go hazy but he could hear the commotion outside and he could tell that he was in the backseat of a car but he was alone and he was starting to feel pieces cold sharp glass in his hair and on his clothes, did the car crash or something?

The purple haired Quinx moved to turn his head around towards the back window where he could see the investigator and Shirazu with quinques in hand and standing a couple of feet away from each other and annoyance filled his senses 'I could've taken all the credit…' he thought as he tried to get out of his seat and open the car door, it was Mutsuki who noticed first and could only stare as the purple haired Quinx tumbled out the car,

"Uri…" Mutsuki shouted and was about to run over to help his friend when suddenly a white human sized object fell down, it must of came from the roof of the storage houses because the white figure dropped down and landing feet first onto the now wrecked car the noise and impact made Urie tumble away from the car more and made Shirazu and the British investigator turn around and the look on the investigators face when he noticed that his car would be unfixable was priceless but that was the least of his worries. On top of his car stood a white coated figure with a sinister looking mask made of snake skin and the Quinx and the single investigator knew who this was.

It was the S rated ghoul Serpent.

 **I know another late chapter I think these chapters are going to be published on Mondays now expect from the usual Saturday or Sunday. I don't really have that much to say expect the next chapter will be the final of the Investigator/Introductory Arc I only have two reviewers to thank for reviewing last week's chapter codename00guest and nissangtrlover2569. Seriously your feedback means a lot to me and it does help and I'm glad that I've kept Arthur as creepy as ever I hope he did it well in this chapter too.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	30. Investigator Arc: New Leaders

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 6: New Leaders**

The group stared at the new comer wondering what the S rated ghoul Serpent is doing here of all places and what was worse for the QS was the fact they knew Serpents identity and knew he was an old friend of their teachers. This could mean trouble.

"Well this has turned into sea of unusual events" Arthur said for once his face and tone of his voice was solemn, it was the most normal face Shirazu had seen the man do since coming here and Shirazu seemed to realize that he was also pulling the same face and now he was thinking who the real enemy was here the Investigator or Nishiki Nishio? And unknown to him Arthur Reed was having the simper problem he wanted to learn more about the three strange one-eyed ghouls and Ken Kaneki yet he had a feeling that he won't be able to do that with Serpent in his way.

Maybe he should step back a bit and see how it all plays out.

"Oh I'm sorry…Have I crashed the party?" The masked ghoul said as he turned to each Quinx in turn with the black hollow eyes of his mask like a lifeless snake ready to capture its prey. "You guys are the famous Quinckes?" Nishio said the group not liking the smugness in his voice "You have kagune right? For real Aogiri sure do some disgusting things no wonder CCG and almost the whole Ghoul community hate them but don't worry even though we can't fix you we can help you get your lives back and leave Aogiri"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Shirazu asked although he had a vague idea what Nishio was going on about but he didn't believe that leaving Aogiri would be that easy not matter what Kaneki said, it was then Shirazu was surprised to notice Urie get up from the floor and with shocking speed had his kagune out at the ready, his sword heading straight to Nishio's gut but Nishio was faster, he jumped of the roof landing behind Urie while the Quinx kagune was heading towards the now empty space on the car roof and the Serpent ghoul then took by Urie collar of his jumper and sent the Quinx flying over the car, Shirazu screamed his name.

"Wow have they brain washed you guys already?" Nishio said as he strolled over the group forgetting about Mutsuki as he passed him "That worries me, makes me wonder what that shit head Kaneki is up to, it could be troublesome… I should take you before it's too late"

"We will leave Aogiri when were ready!" Shirazu shouted his kagune coming out of his back ready to use if necessary "oh and if you're a friend of Nekisans I would start running because he will on his way any minute now!"

"The fucks that? A peashooter or what?" The Serpent ghoul laughed ignoring Shirazu's threat as he stared at the ukaku kagune under his mask and Shirazu cringed at the harsh words, now he really was starting to hate this guy's attitude. "Ken Kaneki is no concern to me, I'm just doing this for a friend…" Nishio lifted his wrist to his mask to check his watch, he didn't have much time to waste.

Mutsuki staggered to his feet using the boxes for support not liking how the situation was going, they were fighting two enemies who wanted to kidnap them, their squad leader was out cold, Mutsuki was without a weapon and Shirazu was the only one who could fight but he was sure he was no match for both the Serpent ghoul and the investigator who was slowly backing off. Mutsuki wanted to do something but he couldn't unleash his kagune and he couldn't move, despite the bravery he pulled at the auction raid his chances of survival were slim and that's what scared him, he could only freeze in terror once Nishio turned towards his direction.

"Oh sorry" The Serpent ghoul said surprised "I forgot about you, I should get you first…"

"TOORU RUN!" Shirazu screamed, this Serpent ghoul had already hurt one friend if Nishio wanted the save them then it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart and Shirazu had to do something "POINTBLANK BOMBER!" He screamed and a load of missiles shot out from Shirazu's kagune and this time it landed on its target, Nishio put his kagune up in defence feeling the power push back but it wasn't going to work,

"Tch…What a shitty name…" The ghoul mumbled as the attack began to die off he made his Bikaku lash out towards Shirazu, the Quinx didn't expect the Bikaku to move that fast and Shirazu was forced to the ground and his kagune evaporated. Shirazu tried to sit up feeling batted and worn for using his kagune to much in such a short space of time he shouted over to Mutsuki,

"Are you ok Tooru?!" He called and Mutsuki nodded shakily searching to find the investigator but he was nowhere to be seen, the space was empty. "Let's get Urie and retreat!" Mutsuki shouted again

"Yeah" Shirazu nodded "It's game over when you die, besides I still have things to do"

Xxx

At this moment when Shirazu was fighting Serpent Urie was dreaming or more like having a memory. The rough gravel floor he was laying on was now a clean smooth marble but the room was just as dark as the sky if not colder and darker as little Urie was towered over by two built up men, their faces where shadowed and burly but the deep gruff voices of the men were as clear and as sharp as the dread Urie felt.

"The S3 squad leader ordered us to retreat and stayed behind to fight 'one-eyed owl' a powerful ghoul" The front man said with fake sincerity in his voice like this was the normal routine.

"I'm sorry Kuki" The back man said who's fat nose and small eyes that were strangely more visible than the first mans "We couldn't protect your father, Special Class Investigator Urie…It's our responsibility"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT!" Urie screamed but whether he screamed it in the dream or real life he couldn't tell because he had shot up awake back in the real world with broken glass and gravel under him, his body worn and exhausted. He needed to rest. He needed to eat. But it was the words he could hear from his squad members that made him struggle up fighting the agony in his muscles and made him walk around to the side of the car to see that Shirazu and Mutsuki were now standing side by side but the investigator was gone however Serpent was now the replacement.

Just then Shirazu and Urie locked eyes, the orange haired Quinx suddenly felt relieved that his friend could stand but when Urie lifted his arm up towards his mouth did Shirazu get worried even the Serpent ghoul had turned to see what the Quinx were looking at.

"Hey kid I thought I…" Nishio started to say but he stopped in disgust and repulsion when the purple haired Quinx opened his mouth wide and bit down hard into his own arm, the blood was already gushing out his arm.

"Hey idiot!" Shirazu screamed about to run forward forgetting about Nishiki but Mutsuki held him back by the arm "What are you doing?!"

"I'm eating so I can reactivate my kagune" Urie said simply but Shirazu wasn't having it, the Quinx pushed Mutsuki off and ran past Nishio towards Urie, the Serpent ghoul didn't do anything to stop him, he just watched the scene play out with interest and Mutsuki ran to catch up with Shirazu. The two Quinx stood beside their friend as he the purple haired Quinx pulled at his flesh

"If your extermination ability is deemed to be in proportion with an S rated ghoul" Urie spoke though his teeth as he finished of the flesh he needed "our chances of getting a promotion increases"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Shirazu screamed, he knew that Urie liked his credit but to go this far by going after an investigator on your own then eating your own flesh, it was worrying. "STOP IT!" He shouted again but Urie wasn't listening all he could think about was that Promotion. Promotion. Promotion. Promotion. Promotion. Shirazu wasn't the only one scarred, Mutsuki had noticed the Serpent ghoul had pulled his kagune out once again.

"For real…" Nishiki sighed scratching the back of his head "Ok, let's end this" Suddenly Nishio's large bikaku shot towards them and Shirazu wondered if the Serpent ghoul had decided to kill them after all, now they couldn't fight and they had no time to run, they only had seconds until the bikaku defeated them. But not a spilt second too late they were saved by black clothed figure that had jumped of the same roof Nishio had jumped of before but instead of landing of the car the figure jumped on the approaching kagune piercing it with a…Quinque?

At first Shirazu thought it was that crazily calm investigator but once the figure started running slicing the bikaku kagune like it was butter did the group of recognise the newcomer.

"Nekisan!" Shirazu and Mutsuki sounded suddenly feeling they weren't going to die after all but Urie could only scowl and bit his lip back in frustration.

"Ah?" The Serpent ghoul sounded as he pulled his kagune back to get a good look of his old friend not surprised to see Ken Kaneki standing there in battle position, his black hair in a mess and with his face calm and collected but his eyes betraying the anger he felt towards Nishio and the harm done to his students but what Nishio was surprised to see was that the half-ghoul was holding a long spear like quinque that looked similar to Arima's old Yukimura 1/3 but of course it was impossible for it to be the same one.

"Oh look whose back!" Nishio jeered as the two friends stared at each other "The king of fakes, how are you old friend?!" But Kaneki wasn't interested in chit-chat and defiantly not with the Serpent Ghoul. The half-ghoul rushed forward making Nishio back away but Kaneki was going to show no mercy

"Don't" Kaneki said striking at the ghoul who dodged it "Touch" Kaneki attacked again but against the ghoul dodged but just barely "MY SQUAD!" Kaneki screamed as he headed towards Nishiki's head,

"Just shut up" The Serpent ghoul mumbled as he got on the floor but Kaneki was too slow to react and didn't have time to defect Nishio's trademark kick as the half-ghoul was sent back tumbling and skidding to the ground landing on his knees and feeling the quinque slip from his hands. Kaneki cursed himself, he didn't expect to be fighting Nishio of all people and what the hell was the Serpent ghoul doing here anyway? Did he get back in contact with Re? And where was that investigator?

The half-ghoul easily got to his feet, he had faced far worse than Nishio's kicks and it was getting boring. "I've been keeping tabs on you" The half-ghoul said to the Serpent ghoul "To be honest I didn't expect you to come back to Tokyo or try and find me…"

"Ha, that's funny" Nishio laughed "Because I've been keeping tabs on you, well try to anyway" and with that the Serpent ghoul put his hands to mask and pulled it off to reveal the smug but lonely eyed friend Ken Kaneki's, the two ghoul only stare at each other and Kaneki couldn't help but feel sad. He hated the ghoul sometimes but the two had been though a lot together and he wanted to settle this peacefully.

"Just go Nishio" Kaneki said keeping his voice calm and collected "Me and the QS are safe once we have what we need we'll leave Aogiri and you and the people at Re don't need to worry about us"

"You think you're so important?" Nishio sneered cruelly "You are maybe to Hide, Touka and to the others but they all miss the bigger the picture here because they are more worried about you and being captured by the CCG that they forget who's pulling the strings".

"That's what I'm looking in to…" Kaneki started but Nishio shook his head, his curly hair locks going into his eyes,

"It's not the one-eyed king you have to worry about" Nishio said as he strolled towards the half-ghoul "I've learnt a lot on my travels and it doesn't matter if you defeat Aogiri the world will be the same unless you find…" But whatever Nishio was going to say it was cut off by the sound of cars coming towards them on both sides and Kaneki silently thanked Hinami for getting in touch with everyone so quickly.

The cars surrounding them were the typical cars that people won't take a second look at, normally dressed ghouls poured out the cars but by their sheer numbers it was easy to see they belonged to Aogiri. Ayato stepped up to the front with Alethea besides him both looking ready to put Serpent down, on the Quinx side a small bunch of Aogiri guards surrounding them with bandages and medicine if they needed it. Nishiki Nishio looked around him, it seemed that he wasted too much time, the plan had failed.

"I'm sorry" Nishio said pulling his snake skin mask back on "We will have to talk another time" And with that, using the same method Nishio used to try and get away in their last fight he used in bikaku to pushed himself up so he could jump on to the roof of the warehouse but the only difference was that he was getting away.

"Squads one and three!" Ayato shouted addressing the Aogiri members behind him "Chase after that Serpent!" The two groups followed Ayato's orders each group having a total of six members in total so while twelve ghouls chased after Nishio the other half of the group (minus Ayato and Alethea) stayed behind eyeing the QS squad and Kaneki didn't like this one bit, not at all. He had been seen talking to one of his old friends and even though the situation was unavoidable and not what he expected he couldn't help but think that he needed a really believable explanation if Aogiri wasn't going to kill him. He looked over to Ayato he already knew what the rabbit ghoul was thinking.

"Look Ayato…" Kaneki said stepping forwards "This wasn't my plan I swear…" But Ayato put his hand up silencing Kaneki,

"It's not me you should try to convince" Ayato said sternly "We wouldn't be bothered if it was the investigator you were fighting but one of your old friends has appeared to you and we can't ignore this, if you and the squad would get in the cars peacefully there will be no trouble".

What chose did Kaneki have? He was tempted to run and fight his way right there and then but looking back at his injured squad members and remembering Hinami back at Aogiri base he didn't think that running away would be an option. He got into the back seat of Ayato's car and gave his keys to Alethea so she could drive his own car back to headquarters while the Quinx drove with her.

The drive back to 18th ward was one of the most awkward and tense moments in Kaneki's life, he knew that he and Ayato didn't really have the best of relationships but the silence inside the car and anxiety of what was waiting him and his squad in Aogiri couldn't help but making him want to have someone to talk to. The half-ghoul didn't know whether to feel reviled or scarred once the vertical pulled its self into the large garage door inside Aogiri' base, he bet Eto was going to be there and that the leaders had already been informed on what happened. Ayato and Kaneki climbed out the car at the same time Alethea and Quinx came out of their car.

"Have you got anything back from squads one and three?" Ayato asked Alethea as the group joined together, Alethea shook her head glancing a worried look towards Kaneki.

"Unfortunately the two squads lost him once they got into the city" The female ghoul answered and Kaneki was not surprised by her answer, Nishio wasn't just called Serpent because of his kagune and mask. Soon enough a random red hooded Aogiri guard came up to them with a slight bow.

"Tatara-sama will see you in the meeting hall now" And with that The Quinx, Ken Kaneki, Ayato and Alethea were surrounded by the Aogiri guards that brought them in before and they were lead towards the descending stairs and down the long grey tunnels of the base.

It was a long walk to the meeting room but it was nothing a bunch of ghouls couldn't handle, now the group stood behind two large and imposing metal doors which were opened wide by two Aogiri guards. Kaneki couldn't help but shiver once he entered the room as a load of dark memories started to hit him, he hadn't been in this room since he discovered the QS project had been a success and was asked (or more like ordered) be the Quinx mentor.

The room was large and set up by two long tables running on both sides of the room and Kaneki wasn't surprised to find Tatara and Noro sitting at the third table which was smaller but grander facing the newcomers along with Naki and Miza besides them. On the left table was Grave Robber and Hooguro looking as bored as ever like they had something better to do, they sat alongside Shousei who ran his figures along his scar daydreaming. Yet on the right side of the table sat Eto in her trademark bandages and hood with Hinami at her side which was strange since the natural half-ghoul was important enough to sit at the head table but when she turned to face the door and waved her hand childishly for him and the Quinx to sit with her did Kaneki understand what was going on.

They wanted an explanation for what happened this evening and he needed Eto's help if he and his squad weren't going to get killed tonight.

The QS squad sat on the table with Eto while Ayato and Alethea reluctantly sat on the space on the left table but looked very much like they wanted to sit with the QS. All the ordinary Aogiri members left the room and now it was time to begin.

"Aren't Shikorae and Dr Kanou coming?" Tatara said coldly as he looked around the room,

"The doctor is busy checking the QS squad's RC level results" Eto answered resting her head on hands "And Shikorae will be no help at all, let's just start without them"

"Very well" Tatara said as he pulled his papers closer towards him and turned to the QS Squad, Mutsuki and Shirazu looking the most nervous of the bunch, Kaneki kept a strong face while Urie just didn't look bothered at all even though he was the one that caused the trouble.

"We got a call from Hinami Sasaki that the squad leader of the QS squad, Kuki Urie went to the 2nd Ward this evening without company or consent of his mentor or another one of our leaders".

Urie nodded at the words, not really understanding the trouble he was in "Yes but I can explain my actions" He said with confidence "I have found the Investigators home and I collected photographs of him that my squad have as evidence" Kaneki had to restrain from rolling his eyes, this was the kind of thing he expected Urie to say, luckily Kaneki had a photograph of the investigator in his back pocket so to play along Kaneki showed the image to the leaders. Eto passed it on to Tatara, there was a smile behind her bandages.

"You see" The natural half-ghoul said cheerily "The QS squad were doing their job, they have our man and the house and the Serpent incident was just a nasty coincidence now how about we finish this silly thing off and…"

"Hang on" Alethea said raising her hand, of course Alethea would be the only one who would dare speck up against Eto but why would the girl who looked so concerned for them speck out when they had a quick ticket out of here, she addressed Urie when specking "I need to ask, did you get the name of the Investigator who attacked your mentor and where you able to do something about him?"

"Alethea has made a good point" Noro said the expression under his mask was unreadable, and Kaneki wondered for the hundredth time why Noro would wear a mask in front of his comrades. "This investigator is very dangerous if he was fast enough for a SS rated ghoul and we can't let him live, if a low ranking individual member of Aogiri could kill him however we can put punishment aside and talk about giving him a higher ranking than his mentor"

"Punishment?" Urie asked suddenly looking very worried, Kaneki noticed his cool impassive persona on the young Quinx face drop then suddenly look angry "I have pictures of the guy you want, my mentor and Shirazu can confirm it, I have broken into his house and got into a battle with him plus killing one of his comrades I have proved my worth to Aogiri and achieved a lot in a couple of hours"

"Yes but like Alethea said" Tatara interrupted Kaneki could almost hear the annoyance in his voice "Did you get a name of the investigator, his nationality, his reason for being in the CCG and more importantly did you at least land a hit on him besides from killing his friend?" Urie bit his lip suddenly feeling embarrassed, he hadn't landed a hit on the enemy at all and he felt himself blushing at what happened when he fell down the stairs and he was sure the investigator was going easy on him.

"I'll take that as a no" Tatara said with a shake of the head and when back to writing on his papers

"So basically…" Hooguro said with a hit of humour in his voice "All you accomplished was foolishly break into an investigators house then let yourself get kidnapped by him, honestly if it weren't for your faithful squad you could be dead or in Cochlea by now, well I didn't expect much from this experiment anyway" Then he laughed, now all the squad was red in the face but Kaneki wasn't having it, yes Urie was an idiot but he couldn't let the Aogiri leaders think that he was useless now, not that he was so close….

"Please" Kaneki said standing up from his seat "What happened tonight was Urie's own doing, it wasn't something that we as a group planned you can't discarded the Quinx just because one out of the four foolishly makes plans on his own, I take full responsibility for not watching Urie closely enough and should of talked to him to discuss our plans better" Mutsuki and Shirazu just looked at their mentor in rage and disbelieve, Urie bit his lip and kept his head down not saying a thing when Hinami just stared at her brother in sadness and concern but she couldn't say she was surprised by her brothers actions he would do anything to keep her and his new family safe but it made her angry how he would take the blame for something that wasn't his fault and not when he had suffered so much in hands of Aogiri already and clearly Eto felt the same way.

"Don't be silly Ken-chan" The childish woman tutted and she wagged her finger and the male half-ghoul "Urie is a big boy now and he can take responsibility for his actions, he knew the rules when he decided to join us and he chose to break them while achieving nothing, you of all people have nothing to be sorry for" It was then Kaneki felt Hinami tug on his sleeve indicating that he should sit down.

"Then I suppose it's been decided" Tatara said get up from his seat "Centipede and his squad will write a report on what happened tonight so we can look back on it later…"

"Wait!" Urie cried out almost desperately but he was ignored,

"Urie-kun" Tatara said strongly "It's up to Eto to give you the proper discipline so it's up to Eto how harsh your punishment will be but let's hope it will teach you a lesson not to disobey us again, we're not like the CCG, if you go against us we won't just sack you or lower your rank your life is on the line as well, including your sanity" the whole room was now in a tense silence, Urie could feel the pitying looks of his squad upon him, even Kaneki didn't say anything which was worrying indeed.

"Oh don't worry Urie-kun!" Eto laughed like a child as she clapped her hands in glee "You're not a Deadman yet, you can help me with a 'little errand' I think that will discipline you enough" And knowing the strange half-ghoul Urie was worried about what that 'errand' would be….

Xxx

Nishiki Nishio thanked his lucky stars that he was well practiced in getting away from CCG and ghouls alike and these Aogiri guards were no exception so he was pleased with himself once the ghouls lost sight of him and was now making his way back to Re. Not looking forward to telling the staff there of his failure but still he felt like he got his point across to Kaneki and hopefully the half-ghoul will come running to find him.

He knocked on the door of Re to find his friends already waiting for him at the front, Touka was brewing coffee for Hide, Chie, Yomo, Yoriko, Shuu and eventually Nishiki who told them his story, no one dared interrupt until he had finished. It was Tsukiyama who spoke first,

"They didn't follow you back here did they?" The Gourmet asked but Nishio just shook his head,

"Don't worry I made sure they lost me" The Serpent said sipping his coffee "Look we can't say we failed, I managed to talk Kaneki and his Quinx friends and now Kaneki is going to be looking into what I just said, he might even try to find me"

"Perhaps" Yomo spoke solemnly "However we are not here to take Ken or Hinami away from Aogiri"

"Yomo-san is right" Touka said nodding "Kaneki hates Aogiri with a passion and going by your story there is no doubt that Kaneki is using Aogiri for information but the question is what kind of information is he looking for and how far has he gone?"

Xxx

The first thing Urie felt when he and his squad walked through the door of their lounge and a sharp loud slap across his face, the room was dark but the purple haired Quinx could feel the eyes of his mentor and squad upon him. He met Kaneki in the eye his mentors face filled with anger and frustration towards the Quinx.

"How is a squad leader that endangers his squad members going to help?" The half-ghoul asked his arms were now crossed as Urie rubbed the reddening mark on his cheek.

"We can't do anything stuck down here like sewer rats" Urie spoke "I decided to go into the targets home myself putting my practice as a CCG investigator into good use I didn't consider the possibility of a ghoul following me, was such a mistake worth hitting me for even though I'm going to punished anyway?"

"You might be an ex-investigator with a kagune but challenging an unknown enemy head on, an enemy that was almost too fast for me is foolish if it weren't for Shirazu and Mutsuki you would be dead" Kaneki said, his words as sharp and as cold as ice edges "I understand you haven't lived in the ghoul world long but you need to understand that 99% of ghoul investigators will kill you on sight, if you are in a battle that you can't win whether it's a human or ghoul you have to run even if your limbs are torn off! As long as you live, you will have another chance. Its game over when you die" The room was silent now, it wasn't just Urie being addressed now it was Mutsuki, Shirazu and Hinami were getting this lecture. He turned back to Urie,

"Urie, you are dismissed from your position as leader of the Quinckes squad" Kaneki's words made everyone double take. Urie spoke with venom hinted in his voice, he was starting to get sick of this.

"In the squad formation usually the highest ranked takes command" He said but Kaneki shook his head,

"In this team I'm the highest ranked" The half-ghoul frowning "And I've decided that you are not fit to be squad leader"

"I'll improve!" Urie shouted,

"I'm telling you so that you'll improve, I'm in charge here". Kaneki said not raising his voice, he was the adult here after all and a teacher,

"I can't accept this" Urie growled, the eyes of the student and teacher locked as the rest of the squad shivered at the tension and hostility radiating off the two males.

"It's an order from your superior" Kaneki said but Urie was quick on the comeback,

"Even though you're a ghoul…"

"U-!" Mutsuki began to shout as he stepped forward but Shirazu was faster he only had to take one large step forward before using all the strength in his leg to kick Urie square in the stomach and the purple haired Quinx was sent flying backwards across the room, what was with people to throwing Urie around lately?

"URIE YOU TRASH!" Shirazu screamed his face twisted with anger and his eyes wide and bulging from their sockets, no one stopped him as Shirazu stepped towards Urie taking the collar of his shirt into his fists "Don't you remember what I told you this morning?!" Shirazu continued "Nekisan has put everything on the line for us, if you call him a ghoul then you're a shitty bastard worse than a ghoul! I'll kill you right here!"

"Just try it…" Urie scowled but whatever was going to be said was interrupted by Hinami,

"Urie-san" The female ghoul said, her voice was gentle but stern the type of voice her brother uses "I'd like you to apologize to onii-chan" Mutsuki nodded behind her and Urie couldn't help but think how hypocritical these people were.

"Shirazu let him go" Kaneki said placing his hand on Shirazu's shoulder pulling him away from Urie "It doesn't matter what Urie says, the dismissal is final besides…I've already decided on the new squad leader" Shirazu, Urie, Mutsuki and Hinami's interest lit up and watched Kaneki's figure lift towards his squad "I've appointed…Ginshi Shirazu as the new squad leader!"

Now everyone's eyes were on Shirazu, shark toothed Quinx's brain seemed to be slow on the uptake until he felt the eyes upon him…

"Wait..." Shirazu started shakily before bursting into screams "Wait a sec Nekisan! Isn't this a smart person's job?! I did even worse than Saiko in class when we were in the academy! And I haven't even mastered my kagune! What the hell should I even be doing?!"

"That's for later" Kaneki said, although he didn't feel like it he found himself smiling at the Quinx outburst "But I think that the person who acts in the best interest of the team should take the role of squad leader I want to try entrusting you with that role, oh and Urie…"

The purple haired Quinx turned his head towards his mentor as the half-ghoul playfully punched the Quinx in the shoulder "Let's hope your time with Eto will teach you not to be too rebellious or I'm going to eat you!" then Kaneki turned back to the others "Let's go to sleep, we gotta get up early tomorrow, good night" The squad nodded their goodnight as Kaneki made his exit from the room and Hinami silently waved her goodnight feeling that her brother wanted to be alone for a while…

Xxx

"Well this has been busy day" Eto said as she and Alethea sat on the edge of the roof top of their building looking down on the 18th ward with the wind blowing though their robes but they embraced the coldness as they watched the stars as clear as fireworks and Alethea couldn't help but smile being in the situation she was in, she watched elegant small form of Eto out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah I didn't think my first day back would be this exciting" The blond said as she pushed her hair from her face "Would you mind giving me a hint on what Urie's punishment would be?"

"Now, now Alethea dear that would ruin the fun wouldn't it?" And the two women giggled quietly to each other as they were watched from a distance by a hunched figure who could see the wickedness of the two ghouls though his silver long bags, Seidou Takizawa shivered but it wasn't from the coldness. The half-ghoul sank back in to the shadows alone and scarred not only for himself but the people who worked under Aogiri.

 **Note: I'm really sorry that this chapter is late, last week was bit of mess for me but its ok now and I'll update every week as normal. We have now come to an end of the Investigator Arc, the next arc will be the Takizawa arc which will probably end up being twice as long as this one, it's going to have some elements of the present Rosewald arc but not all of it, that's going to come much later.**

 **I would like to thank Stephanie0304, Mangekyo Rinegan, Guest123, EmeraldRuby101, nissangtrlover2569 and codename00guest for reviewing the last chapter, keep it up ;)**


	31. Takizawa Arc: Next Day

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 7: Next Day**

The next morning, back in his small bedroom on top of RE Hideyoshi Nagachika couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt so shattered and he was sure that he looked just as awful as he felt. His eye-lids felt heavy and crusted like sandpaper and the coffee that Touka had made him that morning hadn't helped the heaviness in every muscle in his body nor had it helped his brains thought process think on something other than the nightmare he had experienced last night.

The human could remember every detail of the dream or it was more like a memory from years ago….Hide lifted his head up from the desk he had been resting on and got up from his seat to look at the clock handing on the wall above his desk, it read 10:00 am, he should start getting dressed.

Sluggishly he pulled out a t-shirt and jeans from his wardrobe including clean underwear and with that he left his room too tired and stuck in depressing thoughts to pay attention to the direction he was going he couldn't even hear the usual busy noise of customers and clattering and rumbling of coffee machines coming from downstairs. The blond made his way towards the bathroom, maybe a long cold shower would wake him up.

Locking the bathroom door and striping out of his baggy PJ's and dumping his clothes at the side the blond stepped in the shower and turned the water temperature on blue and prepared himself for shock of cold water as he pressed the handle down and let the harsh icy rain shower of water come over him and Hide couldn't help but yelp in surprise. Despite expecting it he couldn't help but react to the ice like pressure hitting his hot naked back and he couldn't help but laugh at himself, he felt better already. Well Kaneki always said that he was the type of people who got up quick after a downfall. Speaking of falls Hide's laughter suspended after noticing his refection in the mirror stuck to the shower wall….

Because of Hides happy-go lucky attitude no one would off guessed that nearly all the blonde's torso was covered in scars and he was sure if he was a girl Karao Saeki would be hot on his trail. The newest scars were from the auction raid four months ago, they mostly on his left side and his arms where marked from where the bricks fell on him, Touka said he was lucky not to be paralyzed. Although they weren't painful anymore his muscles, especially in his back and legs hurt him if he did anything too physical it was one of the reasons why the ghouls at RE worried about him but it didn't stop him training with his quinque and keeping on top of his mission.

The oldest scars however were quite faint and were mostly on the right side of his shoulder and on a patch on his stomach, in a way he was glad that the accident four months ago didn't overlap with his old scars because he wanted to keep them as a memory, the memory of when he found his best friends in a sewers all those years, when he saved Kaneki from Arima's quinque despite the blood loss and the cold wet sewers he was forced to go through but still he got his friend back and he was going to do it again. But his thoughts were broken when he heard the loud banging against the bathroom door.

"Oi Nagachika!" Touka yelled while pounding on the wooden door and Hide couldn't help but flinch for the second time at morning, whether Touka called him by his last name it meant that she was mad at something, usually him… "I hope you're not wasting water in there!"

"Sorry!" Hide shouted and he hastily turned the water off and climbed out the shower to dry himself with a towel as best he could and quickly put on his clean clothes. Now feeling a lot better than he did when he first entered the bathroom Hide came out into the hallway with his PJ's and wet towel slung over his arm and to be greeted by a cornered-but-trying-to-look-angry-but-failing Touka.

Hands on her hips and glaring at the human, Touka spoke to human sternly like a mother would to her child,

"Nagachika, I want you to take the day off!" She said, and Hide was surprised that she wasn't going to complain about the water, the human shrugged and smiled,

"You worry too much Touka I'm fine…."

"No you're not!" Touka shouted and Hide was sure he could see tears starting to form in her eyes "I'm not an idiot! You had a nightmare last night, I could hear you screaming from my bedroom and you still look as pale as a ghost" Hide opened his mouth to respond put shut it again under the ghouls glare "I think all this work and worry is getting to you, you're not looking like yourself and I'm sure if Kaneki was here he would be saying the same things as me. Do you think that best friend of yours would want you killing yourself for his sake? Go outside and have the day to yourself, go and play video games, read some manga, listen to music I don't care just take some rest!"

Hide stared at the ghoul wide eyed, not knowing what to say. Yes Touka had nagged at him to have a break before but this was the first time seeing the female ghoul look this upset and angry and he hated being the cause of it. With most of the trail left cold and knowing that Aogiri might keep its head down for a few days since making a show yesterday he didn't expect to get much from Kaneki's investigation today.

"Ok" The human said nodding scratching the side of his face "Only one day, then it's back to work…"

Xxx

The morning was normal for everyone living inside Aogiri base, everyone was going on about their daily lives either looking up for their next missions or just lazing around. The Quinx Squad didn't know if their mission was still researching the British investigator and CCG's plans or if it had been transferred to another squad due to Urie's 'mess-up'.

So while the three Quinx and Hinami were left to their own devices Kaneki went down to visit Dr Kanou in his little doctor's office in the base. The room had a limited amount of stuff since the Doctor didn't use it that often but it had the necessary equipment to check the Quinx health and RC level.

The walls were a dull gray like the rest of the base and it wouldn't of done any halm for the doctor to put up your usual doctor posters up about your heath or anything like that, but they were ghouls so what did it matter? But Kaneki couldn't help but notice the room still smelt awfully clean like the disinfectant that is used in hospitals. In one corner of the room was the typical clean patient's bed but on the far right was a standard wooden desk with a laptop sitting on with a bunch of papers and behind that desk sat the smiling yet sadistic figure of Doctor Akihiro Kanou.

At this moment the doctor and his prototype sat across from each other, Kaneki hated being in these situations were he had to tolerate specking to the doctor who basically ruined his life but this was a part of his job and this man was the key to his answers so putting on a fake smile was a small price to pay. Kanou handed the half-ghoul the paper regarding the Quinx RC levels

"Urie has 902, Yonebayashi has 850, Shirazu has 920 and Mutsuki has 655. Looks like Urie and Shirazu have the highest RC factor when using their abilities" The doctor said casually like he was speaking to a simple co-worker and not the SS rated ghoul that wanted to kill him, sometimes the doctor attitude really pissed Kaneki off, not once had the half-ghoul seen any sorry or guilt in the doctors eyes. This guy was psychopath and what he did to him, his four students and the 1000 other innocent people made his hate for the guy double by a hundred but still Kaneki would wait patiently for that sweet taste of vengeance.

"It looks like Eto's right in convincing them to use quinque" Kaneki said solemnly looking over the list, trying to ignore the doctor all together "I don't want them using their kagune if it's beyond my control"

"Everything about the Quinckes is still in the research stage" The Doctor said with a smile as he took the paper away from Kaneki, much to the half-ghouls irritation "Please tell them not to play around too much, on the contrary...Mutsuki's value isn't really different from that of a normal humans, he's unsuitable for the primary goal of the Quincke's plan which involves utilizing the special characteristics of ghouls"

"Well I think its better being a human than having your RC factor rise beyond control" Kaneki said hiding the shiver he was feeling, he knew firsthand what it was like to have your RC level go out of control, like what happened when he first used his half-Kakuja, it was like all the RC cells in his brain was messing him up or controlling him like a parasite. "To be honest I don't see Mutsuki improving his strength or agility and wits, usually his kakugan activates without him being able to control it"

"Sounds like it to be an after-effect of the surgery" The doctor said typing some up one his laptop "Although I can't blame you if you're worried, when your RC cells rise too much you'll resemble a ghoul even not being able to eat human food..."

"I'm sure you would love that wouldn't you?" Kaneki couldn't help but say bitterly,

"Oh pardon me, I didn't mean any offense..." The Doctor started but Kaneki knew that the doctor did it on purpose, he had had grown used to watching the doctors face expressions like the small smile in the corner of his mouth and the twinkle in the eyes when QS do something ghoul like. Already Kaneki was out of his chair, he had stayed longer than necessary.

"No worries, I have the information I came for" The half-ghoul said bitterly as he made his move towards the door which was only arms reach but to his annoyance the doctors voice made him stop.

"Oh before you leave" the doctor said "Saiko Yonebayashi is getting a bit fa...I mean seems to be gaining weight"

' _Oh you only just noticed'_ Kaneki couldn't help but think, but he bit back the snide comment and forced a smile "I'll tell her" he said with the biggest and fakest smile ever and left the room before he could be stopped again.

Now on his own Doctor Kanou sighed and leans back in his chair with a shake of his head. Dealing with Ken Kaneki's attitude was like dealing with a time bomb, push the wrong buttons and he would go off in a second yet he couldn't help but fascinated and impressed by the half-ghouls process, the young male had turned from a weak pathetic human into a strong and sophisticated half-ghoul who was at the top of food chain. Looking back on the paper he had shown Kaneki he couldn't help but stare at the large four digit number next to Ken Kaneki's name, Kanou was interested but also worried if 8000 by Kaneki's name will be a good thing or would it be a mistake on Aogiri's part?

Xxx

"So Ginshi Shirazu will be the new squad leader, so Urie's not worth the time then?" Eto questioned Kaneki as the two half-ghouls now stood in their favourite spot, at the top of the roof. The day was bright and sunny with a slight breeze in the air that was just enough to rustle their clothing. Eto was dressed normally today with a mini skirt and a long striped turtleneck knitted with warm red and yellow colours which suited the usually bubbly author perfectly although her personality never matched her dark intensions.

Kaneki stood five feet away from Eto watching her back, from this view she looked like a normal woman, the person Kaneki idolized long ago but now he knew better.

"Urie is excellent" Kaneki defend "He catches on quickly and his investigation skills are great as well, it's what we should expect someone who was an honour student at the CCG's academy. However regardless of the situation one may be in the important thing is personality, Shirazu seems like he can properly think about that's happening around him and he get along with team quite well I think he would be perfect for the job"

"That an interesting lead Ken-chan…" Eto spoke "Just fitting for you" then the natural half-ghoul turned suddenly to face the Centipede ghoul, Kaneki who had been ready for a while dodged the attack of her fist when she suddenly came flying up to him at high speed. Eto without missing a beat swung her leg, the speed of her attacks would be like a blur to an onlooker but to Kaneki he could duck, dodge and counterattack almost any hit Eto threw at him.

"I want to use this chance to let Urie improve his character too" Kaneki said as he dodged and blocked three kicks and two fists and a head-butt "I think Shirazu who is bad at investigating and planning could develop these traits as he builds up Expe…" Kaneki was too slow, Eto had sent a large and powerful kick to Kaneki's stomach sending the half-ghoul flying and just inches away from the edge of the roof, already the Centipede ghoul could feel the large distance between himself and the ground below.

Kaneki opened his eyes to find Eto looming over him looking as perfect as ever like she hadn't just been fighting a powerful SS rated ghoul. The long white clouds appeared in the background blocking out the sun leaving a dark shade over Eto's head as she towered over him.

"Well then…" The woman said grinning "Let's hope that Shirazu is smarter than his friend and hopefully smarter than his mentor if he think he can pull the wool over my eyes by making me think that that last night was the first time Urie had snuck out the base"

Kaneki only stared. The fact that Eto already knew that information didn't surprise him in the slightest, he only smiled and pushed himself off into a seated position not liking the feeling of the strong woman leaning over him or the fact he could tip of the ledge at any second.

"Yeah once I found Urie and Shirazu they were battling an Investigator and I had to end up killing her" Kaneki said rubbing the back of his head, seeing no reason to lie "But I bet you already knew all about that didn't you?"

"Of course I did" Eto said stepping back and giving a little giggle as she watched Kaneki stand up "But one thing I don't understand though, those photos of our troublesome investigator it was the mouse woman who gave them the pictures wasn't it?"

"Yeah" Kaneki nodded, there was really no point lying to Eto, if you suspect she already knew something it was best to play along or the only thing you would grain is pain. "Don't worry about her though, Shirazu and Urie were running around places they shouldn't be in so it wouldn't be any surprised if one of my old friends spotted them"

"Yeah but the funny thing is that two friends of RE found you on the same day, don't you find that strange? And only one of them is a human, if more outsiders try to make contact with you it might cause a problem" Eto said smirking as she turned her back the male half-ghoul who was hiding the fear he felt within him.

"Then should me and the QS keep a low profile then?" Kaneki asked but Eto just shook her head,

"Of course not!" He said angry turning her upper body to glare at the Centipede ghoul "Despite what's happened the Quinx experiment has been a success and we can't go into hiding now that we have just started coming back into the open! No, your investigation on the CCG still continues but I will moving you to another location and let some friends tag along"

"Oh?" Kaneki said lifting his head up in interest "And were will me and the QS be sent too?"

"I will tell you went your altogether" Eto said "Let's get Urie's errand out of the way first"

"Errand, is that what you're calling it?" Kaneki said with a little laugh "I'm glad it's not a job I have to do, getting dirty is a part of living a ghoul life but I think what your planning is a little too harsh on poor naïve Urie" Eto shook her head,

"He needs to learn Ken-chan" The woman said sweetly "Besides you know that it could be a lot worse" The she looked at the watch strapped to her wrist then jumped back in shock. "Opps!" He gasped "I'm meant to see my editor today about that new book I'm publishing, you'll be the first to read it won't you?"

"Of course" Kaneki said smiling, he couldn't help but be excited because despite what he thought of the woman she was great writer and always looked forward when a new book came out "Just sign me a special copy alright!" The female half-ghoul nodded before turning away and running towards the stairs leaving Kaneki alone with his thoughts feeling nervous but excited to what new place he was going to be transferred to, for four months he had been stuck in this underground shit-hole and he was finally getting out.

Xxx

Back in the Quinx lounge you wouldn't be able to tell that is was a beautiful sunny morning because being underground all you really see for scenery is grey walls and furniture maybe that was why Urie was becoming more interested in books lately, the words on the paper were able to paint a picture in his mind for him since is usual hobby, paining wasn't much of an option for him.

The book he was reading right now was about a young man who had lost him memories and was taken in by an evil organisation and the young man was ordered to kill the very friends he had loved in the years he had forgotten, it was an interesting book and he wanted to finish it before tonight when he was meant to meet Eto for his punishment. You know just in case he died not knowing the end of the book. But he didn't think he was going get that luxury when he heard the door to the lounge creek open and Urie tried his best to ignore the heavy footsteps of Shirazu and light footsteps of Mutsuki approaching. Shirazu spoke first.

"Yo Urie" the orange haired Quinx spoke as he pushed a cold metal can of sweet red-bean soup in his face. It was then that Urie looked up to find his two fellow Quinx standing there both looking awkward and Urie wondered what they wanted to bother with him now.

"Tooru wouldn't shut up so I came too say…" Shirazu started ignoring the slight glare Mutsuki was giving him and suddenly the awkward face expression was turned into an angry one "I'm sorry for kicking ya but ya were wrong!"

' _Already pretending to be squad leader huh'_ Urie thought as looked at can closely "Shirazu…" he says turning to the new squad leader "Is this harassment?"

"Yeah" Shirazu nodded positively "You hate sweet stuff right? So drink it!"

"Shirazu…" Mutsuki said silently, this wasn't going how the eyepatch Quinx wanted it but it was a start. "Urie" The green head spoke up "let's work together so we can fight when a strong ghoul like Nishio shows up, besides Shirazu had an idea"

"Yeah kinda…" Shirazu shrugged shuffling uncomfortably on his feet and Urie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow hoping this idea wasn't going to be something stupid "I was thinking that we should try finding Chie Hori?"

"What?" Urie questioned, already the guy has been appointed squad leader and he was now thinking of breaking the rules? "We can't do that, Centipede and the others would never allow it and you know what happens when you disobey orders" Urie said holding back the shiver, not wanting to think about what Eto had install for him.

"It's still in working process" The orange haired Quinx said scratching his head and gritting his teeth in thought "But we still need to pay her back for the information she gave us yesterday and I think she would come in useful as we know that Nekisan has no intension of staying here right? And despite our reasons we can't stay here either, I think she would be helpful"

Urie thought about this a second, he wouldn't mind finding the mouse girl for himself and the fact that goody-to-shoe Mutsuki was agreeing to this was something to question, he wondered if Hinami knew about this?

"Ok" Urie nodded "But I'm not sure I'd be saying that once tonight is over…"

"Oh you'll be fine!" The Shirazu said smiling patting Urie on the shoulder "Besides we still have one thing to do before we start thinking about getting hold of Chie!"

"And what's that?" Urie asked,

"Getting Saiko out of bed…"

Xxx

"Wow Mado I'm impressed" Arthur Reed said with excitement in his voice "I knew you were interested in the Centipede ghoul but you have really done your homework!" The two investigators were in Mado's open space office. The blinds where drawn wide open to let the sunshine light the room as piles upon piles of papers and files regarding Ken Kaneki's humans life including his family tree where littered across the desk, there were his medical records and whatever reports there was on his ghoul sightings. One of these reports was written by none other than Koutarou Amon.

"It's part of my mission" Akira said solemnly as she examined a school photograph of little seven year old Ken Kaneki "As well as a personal interest". Arthur couldn't help but take note of sadness hidden in her voice, the Brit stared at the woman for second.

"Did he take some from you?" He asked, he had analysed the rest of her office, it was rather tidy and simple if not a little classy with his patterned tiled floor and vintage lampshades and clean bookshelves but not once had spotted any personal items such as photographs. The room looked almost lonely.

"Maybe…" Akira said not looking at the investigator in the eyes and she put the picture back on the desk but Arthur didn't want to push his luck by questioning any further, he was sure that the woman would open up to him soon enough, lonely women always did…

"Anyway" Akira said suddenly "He took someone from you didn't he? It seems that Ken Kaneki killed your partner after all".

"Yeah it seems to have been the finishing blow…" Arthur mumbled as he placed his papers back on the desk putting on a sad face which he hoped would be convincing to the intelligent woman in front of him "If only that Koukaku ghoul haven't escaped we could of got answers"

"And revenge for rank 2 Yagami" Akira added solemnly "Its scary, now that we're not even save in our own homes" The woman said sitting back down in here chair, the weariness and the stress she was feeling was showing in her face. At his moment all investigators were put on high alert, in only a spam of a day seven investigators had been killed, five in the prison car raid and two others who weren't even on duty and the one person who had connection to all these deaths was Centipede.

"We should take a break" Akira suggested running her hands though her hair "I could use a coffee"

"And I could use a cup of tea and scone" Arthur said smiling brushing himself off and stretching his muscles, he had been sitting in the same position for nearly two and half hours "And we must remember to talk to Shimoguchi since these cases are pretty much connected"

"Agreed" Mado nodded "Back up here in thirty minutes, oh by the way are you sure didn't see the face of the ghoul who killed Yagami?"

"I'm sorry but as I keep saying" The British investigator said with his back towards the woman "I didn't see his face" And with that Arthur left the room trying to keep his smirk at bay, and he was told that Japan had some of the best investigators in the world? Ha…What a joke.

He moved further away from Mado's rooms as he put his hand in his jacket pocket where he still had the Koukaku ghoul's mask hidden away. He already knew the face of the Koukaku user as one of Mado's old subordinates that disappeared four months ago as Kuki Urie, he almost laughed when he looked up the face in the records, it took him nearly all night but he found it and it was possible that the others of Mado's old squad had been turned into ghouls as well…How ironic.

However he would keep his mouth shut. It would be interesting to see if Mado or the rest of the CCG would work it out for themselves but he knew he will waiting for a while, besides these where the people who didn't consider that he could of switched off the CTV cameras around his house off before carrying Urie into his car.

It was easy to just blame the ghouls on everything in this country.

Right now Arthur Reed was standing outside the CCG's building and started to making his way to a nice a little coffee shop in the sixth ward, although it was a coffee shop they sold nice tea and cakes and he could get there quickly by bus.

The couple of minutes later he was standing in front of the bus station and he only had to wait for five minutes until the bus to the sixth ward and the first ward came to stop. He first let the other passengers get off first but suddenly some guy around the same height as him stumbled into him.

"Oh sorry about that" The stranger said apologising as Arthur steadied the poor chap,

"It's ok" the Brit said smiling and already by looking at the stranger could he tell this person dodgy, his messy blond hair was hidden in a red cap and he had a large grey bag pack slung over his shoulders and dark blue rain coat looked far too big for him and the collar nearly covered his face. The stranger nodded his thanks the hurried off almost fearfully glancing around him as he walked.

The British investigator shrugged his shoulders, thinking it was probably nothing and he got on the bus without a second thought.

Xxx

Hide hated the first ward, there was always the fear that you could bump into someone you knew but Hide didn't have much of a choice. He felt bad about lying to Touka but if he was going to be honest it wasn't him doing the work. He had got a text from Chie telling him to come to one of the cheap hotels not far from the CCG building, apparently she had some information to give.

He had found the hotel that was mentioned in the text message and went up to Chie's room on the third and top floor. The blond human knocked on the door three times before it opened slightly and Hide had to bend a little to see a single large brown eye peering at him though the gap then Chie opened the door wider and ushered Hide into her room.

"I'm glad you came!" The woman said as Hide looked around her small hotel room, there was a single bed that was neatly made, the walls and floor were a very plain cream colour and the only other furniture was a small wooden wardrobe and a tiny dressing table besides the bed that could only hold a single lamp.

Hide then turned to the window where Chie was standing, it seems she had been keeping watch on the CCG building for a while. Set up where camera equipment, with piles of notes on the floor and a telescope that had been put away for now.

"Do you have the pictures of the guy Urie and Shirazu are looking for?" Hide asked wanting to get to the point, Chie nodded and reached behind her where she kept a pile of pictures messily on the floor and produced a set of pictures and handed them to Hide.

"You see don't you?" the mouse girl said jumping up and down in excitement "If Aogiri have ordered Ken and his friends to go after this guy them I'm sure he could lead us right to them like what Nishio did" But Hide was only half listening as he stared at the photos of the guy who attacked Ken Kaneki a couple of nights ago and the same guy he had bumped into at the bus station.

"Do we have a name for this guy?" He asked and Chie nodded,

"His name is Arthur Reed and his staying in the 2nd ward" Chie answered "Although I don't think Aogiri nor Kaneki will make a move for a couple of days so let's just keep an eye on Reed and we should grain something"

Hide nodded and stuffed the photographs in his pockets "Do you have any more information on him like his background or something?" He asked, he didn't want to walk into the situation blindly but still Chie shook her head again looking a little annoyed.

"I'm sorry but his details are heavily guarded" The small woman said as flopped down onto the bed with her hands above her head in a lazy manner "Seriously it's no different to that time I tried to get information on Arima I just can't get anything from him, so you need to extra carful ok?"

Hide nodded feeling disappointed with the lack of information he had grained but he couldn't complain, Chie has never failed him before so he would have to let it go for now but then a thought struck him, didn't he see Arthur getting on the bus to the sixth ward?

Xxx

Takizawa shot up with joint and had to steady himself before he could fall off his stringy old mattress in his little cupboard sized room in the base. The white haired half-ghoul put his hand on his chest to try and steady his breathing and tried to focus on the nightmare he had just woken up from but already the dream was starting to miss up like frosts on the window at the start of a winters morning.

The half-ghoul sighed in frustration and ran his free hand though his scruffy long hair, he really needed to get a haircut and my some hair dye as well, the white hair always made him look as old as he felt. Although he couldn't be that old could he? It also made him realize that he didn't even know the date of his own birthday. If he tried to look into his memories he could sometimes see the burled up face of a woman giving cake with candles on and presents of toy cars and video games.

But he didn't have that anymore.

It was then he heard banging on his door and the familiar voice of Naki shouted in annoyance, "Oi Takizawa! Its nearly twelve in the afternoon get your lazy ass out of bed!" Takizawa sighed but he couldn't help but smile a bit, apart from that Alethea girl it was Naki who actually bothered to talk to him. For some reason the white blond ghoul was the only one who made sure he got out of bed in the morning or made sure he ate or drank something. So the half-ghoul got up from his bed ready to start another boring and uneventful day.

 **Note: Yes this chapter is a little over the place but its show what we should expect from this new arc, and yes it's going to centre around Takizawa but it's going to have a lot of the RE gang continuing their search for Kaneki and getting into trouble themselves.**

 **I also want to thank codename00guest, nissangtrlover2569 and Flowering Lotus for reviewing on the last chapter and I would like to thank a Guest who gave me some good advice that I tried to follow through with this chapter.**

 **I would like to thank the people who have been reading for this long, seriously over 30 chapters in and people are still interested thank you so much ;)**


	32. Takizawa Arc: Pace Change

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 8: Pace Change**

Touka and Yomo were busy behind the counter of RE, it was the afternoon coffee rush and everything was always hectic around this time. Touka wondered for the hundredth time if she should try hiring more staff, she was sure that some ghouls wouldn't mind earning a bit of extra money or maybe she should get Hide to put a shift in? She was so busy going around tables and making coffee that she didn't notice her phone buzzing in her pocket.

Xxx

Back in the first ward Hide put his phone down in frustration, Chie watched him in wonder as she had noticed the stressful and fed up side to the blond. The mouse like girl knew that this wasn't good for Hides health but it was an interesting side to Hide that she hadn't seen before and it could resolve in some interesting consequences.

"You worry too much Hide-kun" The mouse girl said sitting up from the bed and heading towards the window again "Just because Arthur is going to the sixth ward it doesn't mean he's going to Re and even if he does it will be for a coffee break or something, CCG investigators come to the sixth ward all the time so it's nothing new"

"But this guy might know something about Kaneki though" Hide sighed and Chie could see that the blond human was trying not to snap "I'm going back to the sixth ward, this place gives me the creeps anyway" The blond said as moved towards the door but Chie stopped him by grabbing him by the sleeve of his coat,

"Remember don't get yourself into trouble" The woman said and Hide had bite down a laugh and gently pushed the girl back, _like she was the one to talk_. But Hide nodded anyway and went out the room and breathed a tired sigh and reached into his pocket to examine the pictures Chie had given him wondering why this guy would be stupid enough to face Ken Kaneki and why was he in Japan of all places? Was he sent here? Or did he choose to be here?

Anyway he couldn't worry about it now, he had to try and get the next bus to the sixth ward to warn Touka and the others. He couldn't help but have a bad feeling. But then an idea struck the blond, and he took out his phone again, even though he couldn't contact Touka there was still someone else who could help.

Xxx

The bus stop was only a couple of blocks down from Re. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief once he got off the pubic transport along with his fellow passengers filing off the bus and splitting off into different directions across the street, just the sort of thing people do when they get off the bus to London. It didn't matter what country you were from because humans were creatures of habit and routine that followed a certain order or natural reaction. Arthur thought this as he mentally laughed at the thought because ghouls where no different in that aspect either. It's what made war with ghouls so pointless.

He made his way down the street keeping an even stride with everyone else, passing woman with prams and babies, spotting a homeless man sitting outside an off-licence and business men with cell phones to their ears with expensive laptops carried under their arms. It was all so mundane to Arthur, no wonder he decided to become a ghoul investigator.

But his mind was pulled away from those negative thoughts when he stood outside his favourite coffee shop, probably the best coffee shop in all of Tokyo. He pushed the door open and the small sound of the welcoming bell could just about be heard over the hustle and bustle inside Re.

Although the coffee shop was full to bursting with workers of all class with shoppers, families, students, public workers and privet business workers it wasn't your normal suffocating and chaotic coffee shop, somehow the manager of this place had been able to keep a calm and relaxed atmosphere, maybe it was the strong smell of coffee or the layout of the room or the dim lighting he wasn't sure but one thing that Arthur did know was that he was not the only one that felt like this. The people around him where smiling or laughing to either strangers or friends, even the ghouls he spotted seemed to be in a state of peace and sanctuary.

The investigator moved in to the line at the counter, they only seemed to have two members of staff available, an older man and a young woman. Arthurs large green eye's drifted to the man who was in front of him, he seemed to be typing something rabidly on his phone, of course this was nothing out of the ordinary until he saw the quick shift in the man's eyes look towards Arthur's direction but all too soon the man's eyes were back on his phone.

Arthur examined the man more closely, he was very tall and had a thin but strong frame almost like a model with his strong cheek bones and girl like facial features and judging by his purple tailored suit the man obviously came from a rich family since he looked too young to be make a large profit for himself, the investigator guessed that the man was in his mid-20s.

"What can I get for you Tsukiyama?" The gentle voice of the girl behind the counter spoke, Arthur turned to the woman who was addressing the man in front of him, whose name seemed to be Tsukiyama and he seemed to be well known to the staff here. The girl was looking a bit flushed and out of breath due to hard work of serving her customers and making coffee but she was still able to put on a welcoming smile and look as graceful as ever, she was obviously in fit shape and her eyes looked wise beyond her years like she has seen too much of the world than most woman would do in a life time, it was a look that most ghouls had.

The man in front of him ordered a Black Coffee and woman nodded and went to make it while the older man behind the counter came up to serve him. Now Arthur could tell straight away this guy was a ghoul, this guy was a large muscular build with neat sliver hair down to his chin and small calculating eyes and a stone cold face that didn't even twitch a smile and he wondered how the guy became a waiter yet he didn't look as worn out as the girl had and the investigator ordered a cup of tea and slice of chocolate cake.

The man standing next to him was served his coffee and the investigator watched as the purple haired man left to find a table. Next a tray holding a slice of rich brown chocolate cake, a plain white teapot, a porcelain teacup and a small jug of milk and Arthur couldn't help but smile at the amount of care and speed that was put into his tea, he paid the man and looked around for a seat.

It seemed that most of the seats had been taken, he found that some people were sitting on their own and he was sure if he asked nicely enough they would let him sit with them but he didn't want to make them feel awkward and hated being the one who would have to try and bring up the conversation but he needn't had worried when he heard a voice of a man with French accent call out to him from the other side of the room.

"Excuse me!" Arthur turned to see the same man who stood next to him in the line a few seconds ago sitting five feet away from him on a lone table with his cup of coffee in his hand and using his spare hand to beckon the British man over, now this was interesting.

"You're looking for a seat si?" The purple haired man said smiling "Come and sit with me, I could use the company" Arthur smiled and nodded putting on a face that was between relief and gratefulness, he hoped the purple haired man brought it as he made his way towards the table and pulled out the spare chair and sat down across from the rich man who he now guessed who was a ghoul. First the man looks at him nervously in the line and now invites the investigator over to sit on his table and the eyes that the ghoul was looking at him with was with a calm calculating stare as he sipped his coffee but Arthur pretended to be oblivious and prepared his tea with the right amount of milk and two tea spoons of sugar.

"You're from Europe yes?" The ghoul asked casually and Arthur nodded smiling before answering,

"Yeah I just moved from England a few days ago" The investigator answered before taking a sip of his tea "Thanks for letting me sit with you, I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't called me out" The investigator laughed scratching the back of his head nervously and the purple haired man smiled back nodding,

"Yes this place does get busy this time of day" The man said nodding "The best time to come is around the evening, it's very quiet and atmosphere is the most calming, I went to a little coffee shop like that while I was visiting England on my travels, the coffee wasn't as good as good of course but the nightlife was something you wouldn't find anywhere else"

"So you are well travelled?" Arthur asked finding himself enjoying this conversation, he wanted to learn more about this strange ghoul as possible and he seemed willing to share information.

"Not as much I would like" The man said sadly with a shake of his head "I was in France for a while, and stayed in Italy, Britain and Germany for a couple of weeks but I've got responsibilities here in this country however, I should of come back sooner really..." Arthur noticed that the ghoul had trailed off in his own thoughts, the investigator waited for a few seconds before the ghoul was snapped back into reality.

"Oh my apologies" The ghoul gasped as he held out his hand towards Arthur "My name is Shuu Tsukiyama" Arthur reached out to take the man's hand,

"Arthur Reed" The investigator introduced himself and two shook hands before leaning back in their chairs and taking a sip of their drinks not noticing the other customers walking past them or the noise of happy mumbling or clagging of china cups and coffee machines, both man and ghoul watched each other carefully, almost calculating, it was just the two of them in their bubble with both of them knowing the risks and danger if one of them broke that privet little bubble.

"So tell me more about yourself" Tsukiyama said sounding friendly enough as he put his coffee mug down "What brings you to Japan?"

"Well Japanese is one of the languages I'm best at" Arthur said shifting awkwardly, he had been asked this question many times since coming here but he still hated being asked and just wished people would mind their own business but he answered anyway "And I just needed a change of scene".

"Yes I can relate to that" Shuu said nodding drowning down his cup of coffee and breathed and breathed a sigh and turned to his wrist watch and blinked in shock and quick got up from his chair and smiled apologetically "Forgive me to finish this chat when we just started but I'm running late for a meeting, I hope we can meet again" The investigator blinked before smiling back and waved his hand dismissingly,

"No worries" The Brit said "I'm probably running late myself, I will probably meet you in this coffee shop again sometime…"

"Perhaps" Tsukiyama shrugged putting on his jacket that had been hanging at the back of his chair and nodded his goodbye before turning away from the Investigator and headed towards the exit. Arthur watched Tsukiyama's back as he left feeling a little disappointed, although there were some awkward moments in that conversation he still had fun and felt that it was cut too soon and Arthur could only sigh but he had the feeling that he was going to see that ghoul again.

Xxx

Well that was probably the least relaxing coffee break Tsukiyama had ever experienced and he blamed Kaneki's human pet for this. Hideyoshi had called him urgently telling him about an investigator who was on his way to the sixth ward and for some reason Aogiri and Kaneki were interested in this guy, so Tsukiyama was asked to go to RE in case the investigator showed up there and sent him photographs of the pictures Chie had given him.

At first Tsukiyama thought that it was just the human being paranoid, he hadn't been looking to well lately but it seemed that Hide's fears had been confirmed when the same guy who was in the photographs had appeared in the coffee shop. Tsukiyama or Hide would have to warn Touka and the others later on but for now Tsukiyama needed to report to the human.

The ghoul now sat in the park bench, a quite spot for conversation, however the ghoul didn't need to wait long because as soon as he pressed in Hide's number the human answered immediately not giving the ghoul anytime to think on what to say.

"Tsukiyama, what's happened? Is everything ok?" the human asked and Shuu had to pull the phone a little away from his ear because of the volume that Hide was specking, ghouls had sensitive hearing you know!

"Calmez-vous" Tsukiyama said shaking his head sitting and putting the phone back to his ear "Yes it seems you were right, the investigator did come into Re and we ended up having a nice little chat but I doubt that he was on business he only came to order a cup of tea and cake however something about him seems dangerous, I think we should stay away…".

"Not if Aogiri's after him, if we keep an eye on him he should be able to lead us to Kaneki" Hide said his voice sounded tired on the phone and Shuu was starting to worry for him but he bit his lip in thought then nodded deciding to agree if it meant finding his 'Kaneki-kun',

"Oh then" The ghoul said calmly leaning back against the bench "So what should I do? Follow him?"

"Maybe not you, this guy is meant to be a Pro and if you had a chat with him then I have no doubt he will remember your face" Hide paused for a bit and Tsukiyama sighed in thought then and idea struck him, he knew could help.

"Don't stress yourself about it human" Shuu said smiling "I can I already think of someone who will help, by the way where are you?" He couldn't hear much background from the other side of the phoneonly the sound of cars moving and the light chatter of people in the background.

"I'm still in the first ward waiting for the bus" Hide answered "It seems to be running late, I want to get home before anyone I know sees me, thank you for doing all this…"

"Hey we all want Kaneki back si?" The ghoul said smiling "Just call me when you are back in the sixth ward and I will try and get in contact with my friend"

"Ok then I'll just have to trust you for now" The human said before hanging up and the ghoul ended the ghoul and next went through his contacts to find Kanae von Rosewald's number. He clicked on the number and waited for his cousin/servant to pick up, when the servant finally picked up Shuu spoke without missing a beat,

"Kanae, I have a job for you"

Xxx

Back in Aogiri base Hinami was looking for her onii-chan, for most of the day she had been waiting patiently for someone to tell what the next plan is or if they were still investigating the CCG. At this moment she was heading towards the QS bedrooms, she had been hearing noise around there for a while and she was sure they could tell her the answers.

However when she got to the room she saw Mutsuki, Urie and Shirazu standing outside Saiko's door. Urie and Shirazu seemed to be discussing something while Mutsuki stood a little bit off from the pair looking a little nervous but when he turned his head to find Hinami standing there a few feet away he smiled and beckoned the female ghoul over. Hinami came over unnoticed by the other two Quinx males, standing next to Mutsuki Hinami leaned over to Mutsuki ear,

"What are those two doing?" She asked in whispers not wanting to disturbed the conversation.

"Well with Shirazu being the new squad leader he wants us all to work together, meaning getting Saiko out of bed" Mutsuki whispered back and Hinami nodded understanding.

"Ready?" Shirazu asked with determination and Urie nodded slightly but Hinami could tell by the purple haired Quinx expression was that he rather be somewhere else than with these 'idiots'.

Then suddenly to Hinami's surprise both Shirazu and Urie suddenly had their kagune coming out of their backs, ready and armed and with a strong kick Shirazu had smashed the metal grey door open resulting is loud crash sound that made Hinami put her hands to her ears and she knew that she and the Quinx weren't the only ones who heard the crash. Already the female ghoul could hear the shouts and mumbling questions of nearly all the ghouls in the building.

Hinami looked up to find Shirazu and Urie standing outside the now unlocked room, facing the mess which was Saiko's room. Like all the Quinx squad rooms the room was small holding a single bed, a desk and a wardrobe but unlike the other bedrooms Saiko's was the most chaotic.

Now of course each of the QS squads bedrooms were personalised like Kaneki's room was filled with bookshelves and training equipment and Shirazu's was filled with motorbike stuff and magazines and the same with the rest of the members however Saiko was in her bedroom 90% of the day therefore it was filled with manga, video games, posters and empty packets of junk food and fizzy drinks. The room was basically filthy and the smell of odour and human food reached Hinami's sensitive ghoul noise like a gas bomb.

She felt Mutsuki shiver behind her and could hear the rushing footsteps of the rest of the Aogiri members coming their way to see what all the commotion was about. Saiko screamed dropping her hand held game and jumping from her bed, the girl was still in her PJ's and she would of looked comfortable if it weren't for the panicked look on her face as Shirazu and Urie glared at her from the darkness of her room.

"Ka-kagune?!" The frightened girl stuttered and her body trembling with fear "No way…You guys are…Quinckes?!"

"You're one to idiot!" Shirazu snapped and now Hinami understood what they were trying to do, they were trying to frighten Saiko of getting out of bed.

"Err guys…shouldn't we go somewhere more privet?" Hinami asked as she gestured to both sides of the corridor were a crowd of Aogiri ghouls had suddenly appeared, looking confused or excited, they were probably expecting some sort of fight.

So without a moment delay the Quinx and the one ghoul ran pushing themselves though the crowd with Shirazu dragging Saiko along with him, they ignored her protests about her broken door and leaving the room open were people could steal her beloved manga volumes as the Aogiri members just watched the group with a confused and disappointed expressions on their faces. It wasn't until a few seconds after the Quinx squad were out of sight did Ayato come down and order everyone to get back to work.

Xxx

"So" Urie stared as he addressed Saiko, all the squad member were sat down in their lounge, minus Kaneki, and Hinami really wanted to start looking for her brother but she was also interested in what was going on now. Urie and Shirazu sat together on the sofa facing Saiko and Mutsuki who sat on the sofa opposite while Hinami rested in her brother's armchair watching the scene.

"There has been talk going around among the higher up's about a plan to fire you" Urie started and Saiko face was just dumb-stricken and it was plain to see the shockwave that just hit her.

"Ya kidding me?!" Shirazu gasped, this was new information to him…

"Saiko is…?" Mutsuki started not knowing what to say to this new information he was getting, Aogiri didn't just fire people…They either kill them or dumb them off somewhere to be cannibalized.

"Yeah" Urie nodded hiding how pleased he was that the idiots brought his lie so easily. "Centipede intends to keep it to himself until it's approved, you're carefree life here, provided by Aogiri and of course the manga's and video games you ask for are probably not cheap, it would only be natural…" Urie lifted his hand up in a knife gesture "For them to literally _cut_ you off if you were for nothing, they would either kill you off like Kanou's floppy experiments or they would just dumb you somewhere where CCG or cannibalistic ghouls would find you, its highly doubtful that the CCG would spare you and you would receive no protection from Aogiri and surviving alone with bodies like ours would be difficult, don't you think it'd go wrong?"

"Saiko surviving on her own in the ghoul world?!" Shirazu snorted looking as worried as everyone else "She wouldn't last the minute!"

"No shit…" Saiko trembled clutching one of the cushions tightly to her chest as if her life depended on it and Hinami couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, she knew Urie was lying but of course the other Quinx won't know that or even try to ask for information themselves. She had heard first hand from Doctor Kanou herself that they would never scrap the Quinx squad, they wouldn't want the CCG to get their hands on them in case they experiment on them or question them about Aogiri's whereabouts and its members.

Besides they didn't really care if the Quinx refused to work or not because they could always make more of them and the four Quinx was one of the few reasons why Ken Kaneki was still working for him, he would never leave his students to the mercy of Aogiri.

"So before this case his settled" Urie spoke addressing the now depressed Saiko "You should work with the rest of the squad" _I'll motivate her a bit_ Urie thought as she watched the rest of the squad get over their shock and fear on what was (not) to come. He didn't use Saiko because Urie was worried about the low ability to control time. Saiko was nothing more than a cog that doesn't fit so maybe if he teamed up and work with her then Shirazu's squad may fall apart from the inside.

Then when that happens Centipede would have to reconsider his idea….

"Got it!" Saiki cried excitedly standing up from her seat and her chubby fists clenched in determination "I'll work like a horse!"

"That's great Saiko!" Mutsuki clapped beaming at the blue haired girl proudly and Hinami nodded quietly biting her lip from saying anything.

"Anyhow" Shirazu started turning to the rest of the group "I spoke to Eto before she left this morning, we are to meet her at the roof tonight at 7:30 she said it was important so we will meet back here half an hour early so we can all get there on time, someone should tell Nekisan"

"Roger!" Saiko saluted and that concluded the end of the meeting which Hinami was grateful for, she wanted to find her onii-chan. But Saiko determination speech was cut short when she remembered that her bedroom door was still broken and hastily excused herself from the room leaving the rest of the QS squad.

"Urie…." Shirazu started turning to the purple haired Quinx, Hinami noticed that's Shirazu's was looking nervous with his figures fidgeting with the loose cotton on his shirt and gritting his teeth thinking about what to say before jumping out of his seat and pointed angrily at the previous squad leader, the attitude completely changing in a second. "WHY DIDN'T YA SHOW THE SPIRIT BACK WHEN YA WERE THE BOSS?!" He shouted

"Yeah to be honest I'm a little moved" Mutsuki admitted scratching his eyepatch awkwardly smiling at Urie "You really convinced her".

Urie didn't answer but just shrugged and turned away "I've reflected on it, after all" Urie turned back to Shirazu to pat the new squad leader shoulder "From now on I will serve the squad so take care, squad leader Shirazu. Tonight is the big meeting with Eto, it won't be funny if you're late for your first day…"

Xxx

Kaneki breathed a sigh of relief once he came to his exit of traveling under the sewers for what felt like hours. He had just come back from the Providers home to return the file he had given him yesterday, he had all the information he needed and now he was climbing up the top of the ladder and pushed the grid open and was now back above ground, he would of breathed in the air if he hadn't ended up by the trash.

You see if you wanted a save way to go to the Provider you can push open a grid that rested behind the Aogiri's base and you make your way through the tunnels, going the long way around, but Kaneki needed to keep a low profile because of what happened yesterday and he needed to travel tomorrow (to another ward probably) so he wanted to keep his head down and avoid going out to the surface as much as he could.

Once he had crawled out the hole and was now placing the grid back on until he heard a rustling noise coming from behind him. The half-ghoul turned around quickly and got into battle position and scanned the area. It looked deserted and nothing more than vacant backyard left to rot with overloading trashcans and cardboard boxes littered around him and scrap pieces of metal and wood piling on top of each other making it a good but dangerous place to hide in.

"Anyone there!" Kaneki called out the noise stopped. Unfortunately the area smelt too badly for Kaneki to sniff around but he knew there was someone or something with him. Next thing that happened there was a crash from his right and Kaneki quickly spun to see a tall group of boxes topple over and a dark hooded figure speed away from him.

Kaneki couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit, this person either didn't know him or was very stupid. Kaneki sprinted towards the figure at a fast speed but not fast enough so he couldn't stop himself from crashing into anything. Although he would give credit to the figure that he managed to run half the length of the building, and trust me it was a big building.

Kaneki caught up and pulled the running figure back by the shoulder, and guy cried out in fear as the half-ghoul smashed him against the wall and pulled the off hood to reveal a very familiar face.

"Takizawa?" Kaneki gasped in shock when he recognised the mess of white hair the large brown eyes that were now filled with terror and blind panic. Kaneki feeling sorry for the fellow half-ghoul loosened his grip stepping back a bit and his face softened.

"What are you doing out here Takizawa?" The Centipede ghoul asked softly "It's not safe out here, someone could've seen you" The white haired half-ghoul said nothing but only clutched his robes tighter around him shivering but whether it was out of fear or the cold Kaneki couldn't tell because really Takizawa had every right to fear him.

Four months ago he had battle with Takizawa, it was a touch battle that resulted Kaneki using his Kakuja despite knowing the risks but he did it to save his friends and it resulted in the whole of Takizawa's middle to be ripped apart. But luckily for Takizawa (not for Kaneki and his friends though) Eto came taking Takizawa, himself, Hinami and Saiko to Aogiris base which lead to lead to one of the worst weeks in Kaneki's life, and seriously that said a lot.

But now Kaneki wasn't sure if Takizawa remembered what happened, after Kanou used what was left of Takizawa's Kakuja to patch his body up he seemed to be a shadow of himself. No long did the half-ghoul scream or shout of even talk, he never said a word or communicated with anyone, he looked at Kaneki like he was a stranger it was even the same for his past torturer Eto. Mostly people just left him alone to wander around the base or to sit on the roof but this was a strange place for Takizawa to be. Kaneki looked at the half-ghouls hands which where stained in brown and black mud, had he been digging something?

"Come on" Kaneki said smiling and gently patted his fellow half-ghoul on the shoulder "Let's get your hands clean"

 **Yes I'm sorry that it's a late chapter but I've ill and it effects my writing** **This was more of a set up chapter than anything else, I wanted to dive more into Arthurs head and I wanted to get the Tsukiyama involved more since I want to do the present Rosewald Arc.**

 **The next chapter I plan to include more of the Re gang and maybe show Kanae's investigation but I'm not too sure if I should skip it all not. We also find out where the QS are heading off to and discover what Urie's punishment may be. Oh I wonder what Takizawa was digging?**

 **I thank Mangekyo Rinegan , , nissangtrlover2569, codename00guest and JusKIdding for reviewing on the last chapter it means a lot and it's a big help.**


	33. Takizawa Arc: Foreshadowing Events

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 9: Foreshadowing Events**

Kanae Von Rosewald considered himself to be a proud man and a faithful servant to his masters, the Tsukiyama family. He was proud to be called the man servant and cousin to the son and heir, Master Shuu and he took his duties with seriousness and pride but what his Master Shuu was asking felt like a suicide mission. His orders where to go to the 1st ward, the most CCG secure ward in all of Tokyo to follow a certain investigator who could attract Aogiri members and half-ghouls alike. It was crazy but would Kanae say no? Of course not! So right now Kanae was driving to the 1st ward with his largest sunglasses on his face and his smartest black coat. Kanae did not realise that he looked like a typical Hollywood spy at the moment, he was on a mission.

It was a long drive to the 1st from the 21st ward but Rosewald had the radio keeping him company and he suddenly wished at his co-worker, Matsumae, was in the seat beside him. He shook his head out of that thought. He was an independent person and he could go into a CCG ward just fine by himself.

The radio was talking about the attack on the CCG cars that happened the other night and where revealing the names of the investigators that had died and warning the public about the Black Rabbit and Centipede ghoul. Kanae couldn't help but chuckle, there was no point in warning the public, ghouls where the superior species and filled most the city's population, they couldn't get rid of them all.

Around 10 minutes later Kanae was greeted by the sight of nice city houses and white coated investigators telling him that he was entering the 1st ward, but to a ghoul the ward looked less than homely. Although the area was nice in its self with its high class shops and clean streets the place was packed with humans from left to right, there were hardly any ghouls stupid enough the venture in the ward and you could always find at least one Dove down every street. So now Kanae was alone with no allies nor friends but he won't complain, he was doing this for his master Shuu and if his master was the one who sent him then that meant that Shuu had every faith that Kanae would be ok.

Kanae parked his car by the edge of the road not too far from the CCG's main office, when Kanae got out of the car he looked up to see the tall tower like structure of the CCG building behind a cluster of houses and Kanae shivered at the thought of getting closer to the cursed building. Getting his camera out of his pocket and slinging it around his neck the ghoul set off down the street trying to look like a regular human who belonged here and not a ghoul on a mission to spy on some shady investigator.

To remind himself of the person he was looking for Kanae got out his phone to search for the pictures that Chie gave to Hide then got sent to Shuu and then Shuu sent them to Kanae… So yeah these pictures have been passed around a lot but Kanae was looking for a young man with brown and blond hair, green eye, British accent and carries a quinque case but doesn't wear the CCG uniform, should be easy enough except that the Investigator was probably already in the CCG building since it took so long for Kanae to get from one side of the city to the other.

Kanae was just about to put his phone away when he felt a shove on his shoulder, the ghoul looked up to glare at the person who knocked against him, but the glare couldn't be seen behind the ghouls sunglasses which was probably lucky since the offender had stopped and turned to apologize and Kanae noticed that the guy was wearing a long white coat and carrying a metal suitcase that smelt funny.

"Oh sorry sir" The investigator said bowing slightly "I'm in a rush but I hope you're not hurt?"

"Oh no I'm fine" Kanae said forcing a smiling memorising every inch of the investigators face, his features where very flat with small black eye and a large chunky jaw that looked too big for his long face but the thing that made him stand out of the most was his full on, overly large lips and Kanae almost felt sorry for the guy for looking so ugly. He watched the investigator run off, probably heading in the direction of the CCG office and Kanae wished that he got the man's name.

Xxx

"Shimoguchi is running a bit late" Akira commented as she and Arthur waited patiently in the CCG's lobby. The three investigators were meant to be meeting up to talk about the attack on the American investigator, Victoria Cysice.

"I know…" Arthur sighed miserably "I could have spent more time eating my tea and cake in that nice little café in the 6th ward…" Akira then turned to the British investigator annoyance betrayed in her eyes.

"Is that why you were ten minutes late?!" she shouted, honestly what was the world coming to? Aogiri and big SS rated ghouls start showing up and now investigators are late to meetings! She just hoped that Shimoguchi was late because of something important and not because of a coffee break.

"Mado-san! Reed-kun!" They heard their names being shouted the duo turned to see Shimoguchi running up to them from the front entrance, the poor guy was out of breath and the sweat was sticking to his brow. Akira and Arthur also lightly ran towards the older investigator and it was Akira who asked the question,

"Shimoguchi-san is everything ok?" she asked and Shimoguchi shook his head and he whipped the sweat from his forehead, Arthur was suddenly worried about what the investigator had to tell them surely it couldn't be good.

"We should go to your office Mado-san" Shimoguchi said looking around the lobby where their fellow investigators where giving them funny looks and the duo nodded feeling that this wasn't the right place to talk. The three took the lift to the office where Akira lead the way to her office and a minute later the trio where sat down around Akira's desk, Shimoguchi was sipping on a glass of water and Akira and Arthur sat waiting for him to start specking.

"I just got a message from Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu" Shimoguchi spoke now that his throat was watered. Arthur saw Akira's eyes widen and mouth turn into a frown but Arthur looked only confused, the name Washuu was known since that was the name of the head of CCG but he had never heard of a Yoshitoki Washuu.

"Ah sorry I suppose you've never heard of him" Akira said noticing the puzzled look on Arthurs face "Yoshitoki Washuu is the son of the chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu and is the father of Special Class Matsuri Washuu, you've probably seen him around but not notice him"

"Yeah for a Washuu Yoshitoki Washuu is not really one to make a show" Shimoguchi said "However he came to warn me about a message his father got from the USGEP"

"United States Ghoul Enforcement Program" Akira mumbled to herself hearing the name from somewhere before.

"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised" Arthur said leaning back on the chair and scratching his head in thought "I suppose the American investigators are angry that one of their own was killed within only a couple of hours of entering Japan and are wondering what the CCG are going to do about it".

"They will want answers" Shimoguchi said nodding in agreement "Luckily for us the USGEP chairman can't come himself so he's sending one of his men to inspect us, they are going to want to speak to us since we are on the case and luckily our forensics team was able to tell what kagune type the attackers where and we know for certain that Centipede was involved"

"But these are Americans" Arthur said solemnly "I've worked with these people a lot, they are going to want every detail on the case and if we can identify Centipede as one of the attackers then they will expect us to discover who the other two were".

"So what can we do?" Akira said as she put her chin in her hands and rested her elbows on the wood of her desk "We can't match the Koukaku marks to anything else and the Ukaku shades found at the scene are something we haven't seen before, we have basically hit a dead end"

"So it seems" Shimoguchi nodded "The only thing we can do is continue on our investigation with Ken Kaneki I'm sure he will do something again soon"

"Maybe we don't have to wait?" Arthur said suddenly getting up out of his seat and leaned forward over the desk with his hands keeping him steady, his face was grim but his eyes in glistening as idea's were pouring into his head "One of the reports said that while he was teacher he was living with three over people, a girl named Hinami Sasaki, who is thought to be a ghoul and a young man however this man's name is not specified".

"That's true" Akira nodded "It's a rare case but if a name is not specified in a report it either means there is not enough evidence or the person is being protected by the higher ups for some reason, I doubt we will find out anytime soon"

"But Akira, you've been studying the Centipede ghoul for a few years now so you must have some idea who the third person in that house could be?" Arthur said clenching his fists, there had to be someone that Ken Kaneki was close too, a possible human, a person the CCG would protect.

"It's hard to say for certain" Akira said thoughtfully scratching the side of her neck and diverting her eyes, like she was hiding something "You see Kaneki was a human for the first eighteen years of his life so he would have known a few humans however…there was one practically close too"

"Is this human even alive?" Shimoguchi asked but whether he was serious or joking wasn't really the point. Akira moved away from her desk and head towards her bookshelves where a load off over folders had been stacked and she took on out and flipped it open while specking,

"His name was Hideyoshi Nagachika, he was freshman at Kamii University with Ken Kaneki and the two had been long childhood friends and had a very close relationship"

"You seem to know a good deal about their friendship" Shimoguchi said eyeing the female investigator puzzlingly. Akira nodded sadly as she put the folder down on the desk for the Arthur to look at.

"Yes, he used to work part time at the CCG not long after the after the 11th ward battle, it was around the time that Ken Kaneki started to go missing, but soon Nagachika became my assistant however for some reason he quit after the Owl Suppression Operation"

"That's not too surprising" Shimoguchi said crossing his arms "Some young men think they are cut out for being investigators but once they get into a big mission they chicken out…"

"Hide never seemed like the type" Akira said shaking her dismissingly "He was very dedicated to his work and did a good job and it turned out that he was the one who leaked the information about the 11th Ward to the CCG"

"So spying and keeping secrets is nothing new to him" Arthur said looking though the folder of Hideyoshi Nagachika, looking at his profile picture he saw a young man around nineteen with striking blond hair going in different directions with big brown happy eyes staring straight at the camera and colour in his cheeks, the type of person who looked happy to be alive, kinda like the younger version of the man who bumped into him at the bus station. "So what happened to him after that?" Arthur asked putting down the folder.

"Well nothing much" Akira answered "He continued going to college and got a new job at some pizza place, this carried on for a few months until strange things started happening…"

"What happened?" Shimoguchi asked, this was the first time he had heard this story since he would still have been training around the time all this took place.

"Well a few months after the Owl Suppression Operation a young newbie investigator was interested in the Centipede ghoul and like us she did her research and put the facts together" Akira answered as she back down in her chair "Soon after she got permission from her leader to watch Nagachika's flat but after a couple of weeks of surveillance she just disappeared"

"Eaten by a ghoul probably" Shimoguchi mumbled shaking his head sadly "I suppose this Nagachika person was under suspicion?"

"He was" Akira nodded "He was questioned for two day's and we searched his flat from top to bottom yet we couldn't find any evidence to pin point him to ghouls or that he had been living with somebody, if he had been housing someone then they cleared their tracks very well and were very careful about not being seen by other residences"

"So he was let go because of lack of evidence?" Arthur commented sitting back down in his seat "Couldn't you of got something from the research this missing investigator collected?" but Akira shook her head.

"Even her research didn't amount to much" Akira said sadly "Her notebook was gone with her and she was acting more on instinct than hard evidence"

"Then why was she allowed to watch Nagachika's house?!" Shimoguchi asked astonished, for a low ranking investigator to get permission to watch someone's house they needed some evidence to prove it was related to the case in hand, in which case ghouls, and that it wasn't a waste of time.

"I don't know" Akira said solemnly "But her supervisor at the time was Special Class Matsuri Washuu"

' _It all comes back to the Washuu's'_ Arthur though scratching his chin in thought, he had no doubt they had something to do with this and for some reason are hiding the name on the person who's been hiding Centipede but what made Hideyoshi Nagachika so special?

"I'm sorry I've never said this earlier" Akira said apologetically twirling the strand of her hair uncomfortably "I didn't want to mention this since this young man is being protected by the Washuu's I could get pulled of the case if I take it too far…"

"It's ok I understand" Arthur said interrupting the woman coolly "We would have to find Hideyoshi Nagachika, do you know where he is now?"

"Unfortunately no" Akira said shaking her head "Because a week before being questioned he moved away, I don't know where though and no doubt the Higher Ups are hiding something but it was like he disappeared from the face of the earth"

"Impossible" Arthur said shaking his head "Cause this man…" he started pointing to Hide's photo in the file "Is a younger version of the man I saw at the bus station this morning"

"What?!" Akira and Shimoguchi standing up from their seats with their eyes wide open like golf balls and months hanging like a fly trap, was Hideyoshi Nagachika in the 1st ward? But this was perfect…If they couldn't get the half-ghoul himself then they could at least get to his friends.

However unfortunately for the investigators Hide was half way out of town leaning his head against the bus window watching the scenery fly pass him…

Xxx

Back in Aogiri's base Shirazu had just come out the bathroom and greeted by the sight of his sensei walking towards him with Seidou Takizawa following closely behind him, Shirazu blinked at the sight. It was rare to see Takizawa with company or with Kaneki for that matter, Takizawa always seemed to do his best to avoid the other half-ghoul and the creep was usually found sitting on the roof or hiding in the shadows and the only person who bothered him was Naki but if Shirazu had to be honest he found Takizawa rather scary.

"Hey Shirazu!" Kaneki greeted with a smile "Do me a favour and gather Hinami and the QS squad in to the training room? Going by last night's fight I'm thinking that we should brush up on our hand to hand combat skills"

"Yes Nekisan" Shirazu nodded not taking his eyes of Takizawa, Kaneki took notice and laughed it off,

"Don't worry about him" The Centipede ghoul said patting Takizawa on the shoulder and the white haired half-ghoul tensed at the sudden contact. "I'm taking in to the bathroom to wash his hands and then he will be joining us for training"

"Err ok" Shirazu said forcing a smile wondering why Kaneki would choose to let the Owl of all people join in on their training session, did the mentor feel sorry for the other half-ghoul?

Fifteen minutes later Kaneki, Hinami, Saiko and Shirazu stood in a line in the middle of the room in front of their teacher with Takizawa sitting in the back watching the scene. It was the first time Takizawa had seen Kaneki teach or even step foot in the training room for that matter, the white haired half-ghoul had never seen any reason to go in it. It was a large room that look no different to a school gym with smooth, glossy wooden, climbing equipment and benches pushed back to the sides of the room.

Takizawa had to admit that there was a feeling of nostalgia about this room, he knew that he had never been in this room before since it was only half a year old but he knew that he had been in a room similar to this one. In his distant memories he could hear the cheering and laughter of young boys running around the room, their loud running footsteps echoing and the distant sound of a whistle could be heard in his ears. It gave him a strange mixture of feelings like friendship and excitement but also dread of having to come to the room every week or so.

Soon enough Takizawa snapped out of this thought process to find the lesson already starting. The Owl watched as Kaneki stood in the middle with his squad and his sister circling him and he wondered who would be brave enough to attack first. Of course none of them would stand a chance against the SS rated Centipede but as this was a lesson so the black haired half-ghoul would have to tone it down…. a bit.

It was Hinami who was brave enough to face the Centipede ghoul first, although this wouldn't be the first time she had trained with her brother. When the two were living in the town with Hide the two practiced all the time so Hinami knew what to expect and knew her brothers fighting pattern. The three Quinx and the one other half-ghoul watched mesmerized as Hinami swung her legs to try and met her brother's head as the half ghoul effortlessly moved out of the way with his arms in front of him in a defensive position as he eyes analysed her movement.

At this moment Kaneki was playing defence, it was the best way to see where his students were lacking in their skills.

"Come one guys!" Kaneki said addressing the other three around him "You're not going to let Hinami-chan do everything by self are you?"

Mutsuki and Shirazu looked at each other then nodded, this was not much different to when they used to train with Akira Mado. The two Quinx attacked together getting up behind their mentor while he was busy dealing with Hinami but the half-ghoul was expecting it and stomped his foot in front of Mutsuki's as the Eyepatch Quinx was about to throw a punch. Mutsuki gasped as he felt Kaneki grab his wrist and cried out as he was flipped over and threw poor Mutsuki on top of Hinami who wasn't fast enough to dodge the sudden attack.

Shirazu, who had had slowed down in his attack to look and see if Hinami and Mutsuki where ok was suddenly snapped out of it by the sound of his mentors voice,

"Shirazu don't space out! Take cover!" The mentor shouted as Shirazu only had a spilt second to dodge the sudden fist from his mentor but he wasn't fast enough as the half-ghouls foot suddenly yanked up and came down on Shirazu's shoulder.

"UGH!" Shirazu grunted before he was mercilessly kicked down to the floor. Kaneki shook his head in disappointment as he watched his team painfully try to get up from the floor. Where these kids really the same people who had fought in the auction raid months ago?

"No good!" The teacher shouted "No good at all!" the team look up at their teacher, the two Quinx and his sister looked up at their mentor with shame betrayed in their eyes and already they were panting of exhaustion.

"You should know that neither ghouls nor investigators hold back! Neither quinque nor kagune will be useful if you can't master the basic fighting skills! Who knows where Eto will be taking us tomorrow!"

That was true, Eto could order then anywhere…He wouldn't be surprised if she ordered them to the first ward. But that wasn't his main concern, the barehanded him against the four of them is…wait! Four? Kaneki turned to his left where he found Saiko already laying on the cold wooden floor of the gym.

"Saiko" The half-ghoul snapped turning to the girl and strolled up to where she lay "you didn't come at me even once?!"

"I'm dead" Saiko said abruptly not bothering to take her head off the ground until her cross mentor pinched her checks spreading them out into a smile,

"Be serious". He said surprised that the blue haired girl had come in the first place, maybe Shirazu had something to do with it? It didn't matter anyway, at least she was learning something which could more said to Urie. He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised that the ex-squad leader didn't come to his training session, he was probably still angry at him for giving his position to Shirazu and mustn't be looking forward with his time with Eto tonight.

His eyes then went over to Takizawa who had been hiding himself in the corner and had been watching the training session wide eyed and fascination, that was good because he wanted to get on the Owls good side, not only because he felt guilty about what happened in the Auction raid but because he wanted to know what Takizawa had been digging and why and of course where he dug it in the first place.

Xxx

For the rest of the day the QS squad trained until their muscles where burning and screaming for mercy, around four o'clock did Kaneki give his squad a much deserved break and let them do their own thing and suggested that they pack some belongings for their relocation tomorrow.

While Shirazu complained to the group on how Nekisan was a 'slave-driver' Urie had locked himself up in his bedroom and was already packing for the trip tomorrow. He didn't know how long the squad will be gone for so he packed as much clothes and books as he could fit in his small suitcase, it was a better thing to do than wondering how his unavoidable meeting with Eto would turn out.

If only he was stronger then maybe all this this wouldn't be happening now, last night he couldn't even land a hit on his target but maybe if he had more frames open….

Xxx

The time was now ten minutes past seven and the QS squad was all together in the lounge minus Saiko. "She's late" Hinami said look up at the clock worriedly "We have to leave soon…"

"That biiiitch!" Shirazu snarled with shark like teeth gritting against each other in frustration "And after what she said this morning?!"

"She's probably tired after training today" Kaneki said kindly with an awarkard smile on his face "Let's just go and update her after" It seemed that Kaneki was ready to leave, they still had the long journey of climbing up all those flights of stairs and he didn't want to keep Eto waiting. Urie and Shirazu locked eyesn Urie's seemed to be saying _'What are you going to do squad leader?'_. Shirazu wasn't about to give as quickly as his mentor…

"Nekisan you go ahead!" The shark tooth Quinx said running out of the lounge "I'll smack her outta bed!"

"Huh!" Kaneki said blinking in surprised at his student's outburst and argued back "When she doesn't want to wake up, she won't wake up to anything…" But Shirazu wasn't having it,

"There's no human like that!" Shirazu said screaming down the corridor as he set of running towards Saiko room leaving the other squad member to watch from behind.

"Hey Shirazu!" Kaneki started but stopped and put his hand down and shook his head, Shirazu could catch up with them later "It can't be helped, let go" he said as he lead his squad towards the roof wondering where Eto was going to send him and what Urie's punishment would be.

Xxx

The walk up to the roof was one that Kaneki was used to and it was walk he did almost every day however the same could not be said for his young subordinates. Unfortunately the lift of the building had been down for years and the group had to climb all five floors to reach the roof and it was such a pain, not to mention that the inside of building was as creepy as hell the group was glad that they lived underground instead. Inappropriate graffiti stained the grey and mouldy walls and the small pit patter of rats and mice running inside the walls could be heard and the creaking of the staircase and loud slamming of doors against the wind didn't make it any easier.

Finally the squad reached the roof, Kaneki looking as smart as did before he left the lounge but his students however where out of breath, sweat on their foreheads and looked ready for a nice long sit sleep. Kaneki was surprised to find Tatara standing on the edge of the roof with Naki and his white suited henchman besides him. He was also surprised Seidou Takizawa sitting in the far corner, he didn't know that his fellow one-eyed ghoul was going to be here too but he was snapped out of this thoughts when Hinami tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Onii-chan its Ayato-kun" The girl said pointing to his right and Kaneki noticed the rabbit ghoul strolling over to them with his business like expression on his face though he did give a friendly nod towards Hinami before specking to Kaneki.

"Thanks for coming on time" The Rabbit ghoul said "Although you needn't had rushed, Eto is going to be late"

"Well she's a busy woman" Kaneki shrugged as he looked around the area and examined his fellow comrades. "Are you and all these people going to be relocated?" The half-ghoul asked eyeing Tatara and the White suites.

"Well Tatara is here just to support Eto" Ayato answered "Takizawa will be coming with you including Naki but his thugs are going to stay here and it will be my job to go to your location every week to see if everything is going ok"

"Where are we being sent to anyway?" Hinami asked, Kaneki gave her a warning look not wanting her to get in trouble with the Black Rabbit but Ayato didn't seem to mind and only shrugged,

"You will find out soon enough, don't worry too much about its not like we are taking you to the first ward or something" But the Rabbit was interrupted when the door to the roof suddenly smashed open and the whole QS squad was surprised to find Shirazu, he seemed to have legged it up the stairs at marathon speed and what was even more surprising was seeing Saiko being carried on his back fast asleep and still in her PJ's.

"I'm so sorry for being late!" Shirazu cried, his eyes wide and desperate and everyone, even expressionless Tatara stared at him with a raised eyebrow, Urie just stared at the orange haired Quinx wide eyes, looking the most shocked than anyone else there he felt himself get even more angry when he noticed that it was Saiko on his back. However Mutsuki was impressed, even when they worked for the CCG he couldn't remember Saiko attending any of the meetings and Kaneki just smiled a waved his hands dismissingly.

"Its fine" The half-ghoul clearly amazed "Eto's late anyway but more importantly you brought Saiko along, that's remarkable!"

"Certainly impressive, you made the right choice of choosing him as leader Ken-chan!" and Kaneki couldn't help but roll his eyes, that voice that just came from nowhere was so familiar to him now and along with the others he turned towards the edge of the roof where a bandaged up and hooded figure of Eto sat behind Tatara, appearing like a phantom in the night although Kaneki guessed that she must of just climbed the wall of the building.

"Ok, now we're all here let's start the meeting shall we?"

 **Note: I think you can all guess that the investigator that Kanae bumped into was Shimoguchi. I know these chapters have been a little slow and boring but I'm sure if you've read the name of the chapter you guess why I put it up. We will be moving along faster after the next chapter which is going to called 'Urie's Errand' which of course is going to be centred around Urie and we have a little Hide as well. Also since its coming up to the holidays there's going to be a little Christmas Omake which will be posted a little before Christmas.**

 **As usual I thank the reviewers Mangekyo Rinegan,** **nissangtrlover2569, tats magicalmcguffins, , Flowering Lotus and codename00guest and see that some of you have noticed of the box what Takizawa was digging well keep it mind because it's the key which will explain almost all the answers in this fanfic.**


	34. Omake 1: Birthday Memories

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Omake 1:** **Birthday Memories**

Christmas time for Ken Kaneki was anything but special, it was just an event that took place five days after his birthday and even then his birthdays weren't that memorial.

The date was the 20th December, just year after moving into his auntie's house. His aunt, uncle and cousin had been busy putting up the decorations, they had just recently come back from picking up a real fair tree to decorate. Kaneki didn't like a strong grassy smell that came from it and knew that it was going to mess up the living room floor with its small green prickles falling on the floor and then his aunt will order him to clean it up. He hadn't even been asked if he wanted to pick out the tree with them or if he wanted to help decorate it and right now he was locking himself in his room with the song Jingle Bells which was blasting itself down stairs and the smell of Christmas cake rolled through the house making his stomach rumble. Again that sound was nothing new.

For past hour now Kaneki had been watching the first white bits of snowflakes fall to the ground and watched them in fascination as they poured from the clouds faster and faster until it stopped and he was left staring at a white thick blanket of snow and he was sure if it wasn't so dark children would be out there with their parents throwing snowball, making snowmen and snow angels but due to the resent news reports of attacks made by strange beings called 'Ghouls' people had become more nervous of going out at night.

Well except for one.

Now that the beautiful rain of snowflakes had ended Kaneki thought about putting his attention elsewhere, maybe a nice book would do the trick? But as soon as he was about to turn away from the window he heard a thump against the glass making the black haired boy tense and Kaneki was surprised to turn and see that his window was now covered in white partials of snow.

Had someone thrown a snowball at his house?

The young boy moved to open the window and to look out and see who had thrown the snowball which was a dumb move on his part because as soon as he opened the window he was met with cold air and a large lump of snow thrown in his face.

Kaneki cried out stepping back a bit and pushed the solid water from his face but he relaxed when a recognisable voice called out from the window,

"Yo Kaneki!" the voice shouted "Like my little birthday gift?"

"Hide!" Kaneki snapped clearly annoyed at his best and only friend. He moved to window once again looked down to find Hideyoshi Nagachika standing there with a large cheeky smile spread across his face that was starting to go pink due to the cold air. He usual spiky blond hair and hidden in his oversized dark blue woolly hat, his neck and chin covered by a matching scarf and his waving hands covered in thick gloves while the rest of his body was protected by thick coat with fur on the inside and his feet was inside the boots he would wear for a rainy day.

"Come on dude, it's snowing!" Hide shouted up "You don't want to be stuck on a nice night like this, it's your birthday after all!"

"Hide you need to quieten down!" the black haired boy hushed, worried that this extended family might hear them "What about those…things that the news warns us about every day?"

"Don't worry about that" Hide reassured put on that gentle smile that Kaneki could always trust "Just get your coat and boots on and we will get going"

Kaneki sighed rolling his eyes at his friends but inside he was smiling, ghouls or no ghouls he would give anything to get away from the lonely house that was said to be his home and if Hide was asking then that was just more a reason to leave.

Lately Kaneki had become good at sneaking out of his own house, after taking out his boots and large coat from his wardrobe he snuck down the stairs where his aunt was bussing about in the kitchen and his uncle and cousin where in living room where they had just finished putting up the decorations and where now watching TV. Neither of them noticed when Kaneki put his on his boots and coat and unlocked the door and stepped outside to the freezing night air.

Kaneki quickly wrapped his coat tighter around him, it was colder than he thought but warmness filled his belly when he heard the footsteps of Hide come closer to him.

"Is that all you got?" The blond asked surprised and if not a little worried "Don't you have a hat or gloves or something?" But Kaneki just smiled and shook his head at his friend

"I'll be fine" the boy said "Let's get going"

Xxx

Hide didn't explain what he had in mind or where he wanted to go but going by the direction they were heading Kaneki guessed that they were walking towards the park. The two pairs of boots crunched in the snow, Kaneki loved it and best of all was that everything was peaceful and it made him sad that people where so cautious going out at night that they wouldn't even come outside to enjoy the six inches of snow.

Even loud and energetic Hide found himself enjoying the peaceful atmosphere with his friend but then Hide felt a shiver next to him and turned to see his friend pull his coat tight and was trying to stop his teeth from chattering. Now Hide wished he'd brought a spare hat and gloves for his friend, he should have known that Kaneki wouldn't have any since he would never ask his aunt to buy him anything since she would complain how much money he was wasting on 'trivial' things.

Hide turned to look at this friend again, who clearly wasn't enjoying himself anymore, but Hide wasn't having that! It was his best friend's birthday after all and he couldn't have him being cold. So still walking, Kaneki was surprised when his found his neck and the lower part of his face engulfed in a long scarf of dark blue fluff that smelt strangely of Hide. He black haired teen turned to his now scarf-less friend who smile cheekily at him and Kaneki couldn't but smile back gratefully then laugh and then they both started laughing together.

Finally they made it the park, the play equipment was covered in snow and looked almost frozen in time but going on the swing set was not really what Hide had planned, there was the large field behind the equipment that Hide found that the interesting.

"Hey Kaneki" The blond said turning to his friends "Let's build a snowman!"

"Huh?!" Kaneki gasped at his friends sudden suggestion, he couldn't tell if his friends was being serious or joking. Did Hide really want to build a snowman in park, like what they did when they were kids?

"Yeah, come on it would be fun!" His friend said grabbing him by the sleeve of his coat and Kaneki suddenly found himself being pulled by a laughing Hide towards the field of white, that when Kaneki realized that Hide was being serious. However the black haired boy couldn't complain, he loved the childish side of Hide and he knew for a fact that his blond friend was going to make him have fun whatever it takes.

So now the two boys stood in the middle of the empty field and just like when they were children Hide began to give the orders.

"Ok Kaneki you go on that side" Hide pointed to the left of the field "And try and make a large ball of snow, as big as you like and that can the lower half of the body and I'll make the stomach then we can build the head together!" Kaneki smiled, they were always the same intrusions Hide would give every time they wanted to build a snowman.

So the two got to work, Kaneki couldn't tell how much time had passed since he left the house but he didn't care because despite his figures going numb with cold Kaneki enjoyed the conversations he was having with Hide while the ball of snow was betting bigger and bigger and when the height was getting to his waist did Kaneki think it was time to stop. Hide checked the overly large snowball and nodded and then picking up his own slightly smaller ball of snow carefully placed it one top of Kaneki's bigger one. Now all they needed was the head.

Even though the head was the smallest part of the snowman's body Hide always insisted they do it together so with the two of them got to work and they finished the head in five minutes but before they could place the head on Hide noticed Kaneki's hands. And now Hide really cursed himself for not thinking ahead, they were red and swollen with cold and guilt suddenly snuck into Hides stomach. Had Kaneki really been playing with snow all this time without gloves and not once complained?

"Are you ok Hide?" Kaneki asked looking at his friend in wide eyed concern noticing his friend's silence and he watched in puzzlement as the blond suddenly pulled his gloves off and brushed the snow off with his coat, "Hide what are y…" but was stopped when Hide suddenly grabbed both of his freezing cold hands and forced them into the gloves with argument.

"You know" Hide said not meeting his friend in the eyes "if your hands were cold you should have just said", Kaneki looked away guiltily and mumbled,

"I'm sorry…I don't want to be a bother" But the blonde hushed him with hard pat on the head and that made the black haired teen cry out in confusion,

"No worries" Hide said grinning "Let give this snowman a head ok?" Kaneki nodded and together they finished the body of their snowman. Hide ran his figure along the head giving the snowman a smile, eyes and nose. Kaneki gave a small chuckle once the snowman and done and went off to find some sticks for arms. Once the black haired teen found two sticks for arms he came back to find Hide placing his own woolly hat on the snowman's head.

"Hide!" Kaneki snapped frustrated at the blonde's actions "You can't lend your processions to everyone, you going to get cold!"

"What can I say" Hide smiled at his friend "it's the holiday of giving" Kaneki just rolled his eyes and pulled the scarf that Hide gave him off his neck and threw it at his blond friend,

"Here I'm not cold anymore" Kaneki said smiling and he stuck the sticks where the arms should be and the two boys stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"He's probably going to get knocked down tomorrow" Kaneki couldn't help but say but Hide just gave his friend a light shove on the shoulder,

"Give our snow friend a bit of faith would ya" The blonde said and Kaneki ever so lightly shoved him back so Hide being the vengeful friend he was picked up a lump of snow and splat it on Kaneki head,

"Hey!" Kaneki shouted and picked up his own lump of snow, he had forgotten that he hadn't got Hide back for throwing that snowball in his face earlier and quickly the two boys had started to have a full on snowball fight and the only sound heard was the laughter and shouting of two teenage boys messing around in the snow.

Later, after remarkably not breaking the snowman they had worked so hard to build the two boys lay lazily in the snow, side by side, watching the clouds roll against the darkness of the sky and the two boys wished this moment wouldn't end.

"So did you have a good birthday Kaneki?" Hide asked turning away from the sky to meet his friend who was still looking straight up at the sky.

"Best birthday yet" The black haired boy said to a true genuine smile on his face and Hide had to admit that it the most honest thing that his best friend had said for a very long time.

Xxx

Many years later a twenty year old Ken Kaneki was the only one in the library that night, the time was now six o'clock and all of his fellow peers had gone home to enjoy their Christmas holidays but Kaneki rather stay in the library a bit more and catch up on his work. He had started the university late due to his sudden relocation from Tokyo but even though he was months behind Kaneki was catching up without any stress, in fact he was happy.

Although his missed Touka and the rest of the gang greatly, buying furniture, decorating the house and hanging out with Hide and Hinami was turning out to be the most fun he had in years and he felt very lucky that he could start over in this new town, there were no ghouls, no CCG and in a few years he was hoping to become a teacher, hopefully locally.

Kaneki was busy typing up the last paragraph of his essay and he found his vision shrouded his darkness and two hands pressed against his eyes but he smile, he could already smell who it was,

"Get off Hide" Kaneki mumbled shaking his friend off and he heard his human friend laugh and pat him friendlily on the shoulder,

"Well you're senses are getting better but they still need a bit of work" Hide said as he sat down on the chair next to him and spun around to meet his friend who had gone back to typing up his essay which made Hide frown a bit,

"Dude" The human said leaning forward "You do remember what day it is today right?"

"It's a Sunday" The half-ghoul answered casually and that confirmed to Hide that his best friends really had forgotten,

"Try again" Hide said and Kaneki tipped his head up in thought,

"It's five days till Christmas" The half-ghoul answered and the human sighed miserably and he grabbed his friends shoulders and turned him around to face him and the human started off slowly,

" .birthday" And Hide watched in silent humour as the realisation suddenly dawned on Kaneki…It was his birthday.

Although this wouldn't be the first time that Kaneki had forgotten his birthday, last year for his nineteenth birthday he was still under a great deal of stress from having just escaped from his psychopathic torturer, Jason and even before then he would be too busy or occupied with his own thoughts to worry about his birthday, it was always Hides job to remind him.

"Let's go home" Hide said patting his friends on the shoulder "Hinami's waiting for us" Kaneki looked back on his unfinished essay then looked back at his friends pleading eyes…Maybe he could finish his essay later.

Saving his working and logging of his computer the two young men left the now empty library and walked outside onto stone grey pavement where it was slowly turning to white. Kaneki looked up at the clouds hanging above him where crying out white balls of snowflakes. Hide was also watching the sky and smiled fixing the scarf on his neck but then he turned back to his friend who wore a light weight jacket under his outfit and already the half-ghoul was shaking due to the cold night air.

Hide sighed with a light smile on his face as he pulled off his scarf and threw it around the short man's neck.

"Hey!" Kaneki gasped "I'm not that cold!"

"You will be soon" The human replied as he started going down the path and Kaneki followed at his heals as he watched the scenery around him grow whiter and whiter. Snow clung to the bare winter trees and littered peoples lawns and the roofs of their houses and it continued on as Hide and Kaneki got on the bus and silently watching the scenery fly past them.

"Hey Kaneki" Hide said turning back to his friends "what do you want to do for Christmas?" Kaneki thought for a moment then shrugged before answering,

"I don't know" He said tiredly "But I would like see Touka-chan and the others…."

"Me too" Hide said sadly staring at his lap, they had only been away from Tokyo for a few months and Hide felt that it still wasn't save to go back yet, it may take a few years until they can go and see Touka's new coffee shop. "Maybe we could give them a call" Hide suggested "I'm sure they would love to come and see our new home".

"Sound good" Kaneki said smiling but it didn't reach its fullest, it never did these days…but it was still early days.

Finally the bus stopped at their destination and the two men thanked the driver and got off the bus to find that the snow was now a couple of inches deeper than before but that was no problem since their house only a couple of blocks down their bus stop.

"Haha!" Hide laughed admiring the white scenery around him "the snow brings back old memories doesn't it Kaneki?"

"Yeah" Kaneki nodded fixing the scarf on his neck "Let's just go back home, I'm sure Hinami is waiting for us"

"Lier!" Hide teased "You're just too weak for the cold night air!"

Kaneki rolled his eyes at his friends and carried on towards the direction to the house letting Hide catch up him.

"You know Ken" Hide said once he caught up with the half-ghoul and Kaneki's interest perked up, Hide only called him by his first name if he was passionately serious. "I wish we could do this every year, you know walk together like we've always done". Kaneki gazed at his friends for a bit before turning his head down to the snowy ground.

"Yeah" Kaneki nodded almost sadly and the two men hadn't seemed to notice that they had reached their street until they heard the voice on Hinami call out to them. The two men looked up to see the woman of the house dressed up is her warmest coat and wrapped in a woolly scarf and hat and under her arm she was holding her onii-chans own coat and gloves. It seemed that she had been standing outside the door waiting for them to return as she now ran down the path with a welcoming smile on her face and ready to greet the boys.

"Onii-chan, Hide-onii I want to play in the snow!" The girl said excitedly "Please… it would be fun!"

"You're not going to let us say no anyway" Kaneki said with a slight chuckle in his voice as he took his coat and gloves from the girl, wishing he had them earlier and pulled the coat on and did the same with the gloves.

"Hey Hinami" Hide said turning to the girl "Have you ever built a snowman before?"

The girl thought for a minute before shaking her head and that made Hide's smile grow wider.

"Well don't worry" The human said clapping his hands together "Me and Kaneki will teach you, won't we Kaneki" He said turning to his friend who only shrugged with a small innocent smile on his face,

"Well I maybe a year older…" The half-ghoul started "but some things will just never change"

 **I know I should of carried on from the last chapter but its Christmas soon and it's also Kaneki's birthday so Happy Birthday Kaneki! (and Arima).**

 **So how did you like** **the first Omake? I won't do these all the time maybe on holidays or something, if I do another one it would be for Valentine's Day but if you want see more just tell me and I will consider it.**

 **Oh and I don't think that the next chapter will be up in time for xmas so just in case, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and please be save xxxx**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	35. Takizawa Arc: Urie's Errand

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 10: Urie's Errand**

"Ok I think we've wasted enough time and I'm sure you guys are eager to know where you're going" Eto said, her face expression was unreadable against her bandages but Kaneki was sure that where was a slight smirk hidden there and that it was directed towards him.

"First let me explain the situation" The small said putting her two hands together to rest them on her chin "Our main goal at the moment is to discover more about the Dove's plans and hopefully to get them out of their nest"

Kaneki bit this tongue back from saying anything, the reason why Aogiri wanted to get the Doves attention was still unknown to him but he knew it had something to do with Aogiri's end goal…whatever that was.

"And I believe the best way to do that is to spread ourselves out a bit more" The woman explained "so I want the Quinx, Hinami, Ken-chan, Alethea, Naki and Takizawa to go to our old base in the 11th ward and take it back from the ghouls who reside there now"

The 11th Ward?! A spark of light suddenly flashed in Kaneki's mind at the mention of the ward and he hoped that the others around him didn't notice his sudden freeze at the mention of going back to the 11th ward's base. Aogiri conquered the 11th ward for a while before the CCG invaded them five years ago, it was a major battle and numerous lives were lost on both sides but Aogiri left the base and they hadn't reclaimed it since, until now that is.

But of course there was more to it than that.

"Alethea is already waiting at our old base" Eto said "I want you guys to meet her there by tomorrow morning and I also want Kaneki to lead the mission".

"Excuse me" Ayato said interrupting as he stepped forward to face Eto his face betrayed confusion and curiosity "No disrespect Eto but don't we have more important things to do than rally up the CCG? Floppy still hasn't been taken care of and we are running low on quinque metal, I think we should concentrate our efforts in building up our numbers and help that crazy doc in his research".

"Oh Ayato-kun" Eto tutted shaking her head disapprovingly and crossing her arms behind her "This is what we have been planning for the past four years, once we grain back our power in the 11th ward we won't having anything to worry about, I'm still concerned about the foreign CCG's since the information we have on them is so limited" She turned back Kaneki and his squad

"I want you to lure out this British investigator that has been causing so much trouble, capturing and questioning him could be beneficial to us, use Naki, Alethea and Takizawa to help you, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" the Quinx said bowing respectfully as Kaneki and the other three nodded to show their understanding but Kaneki still felt uneasy and he knew that Eto was sending him to the 11th ward to spite him but could be there be some other reason for Eto sending him there? Did she want him away from the 18th ward? What was going to happen to this place while he was gone?

Xxx

After arranging the time to set off tomorrow and their meeting place the group decided to call it a night and decided to spilt off leaving Urie alone with Eto. Before leaving Kaneki had given him an encouraging pat on the back which Urie didn't take to kindly off. Of course Kaneki wasn't worried about him, Eto wouldn't do anything that was cause Urie much harm and he was valuable to the Quinx project but Urie knew that whatever the queen had planned for him it wasn't going to be pleasant.

After his squad had left him, but not before shooting pitiful looks behind his back, Eto stood in front of him everyone, even Tatara had left and suddenly the world around Urie felt a lot colder.

"Oh Urie, we're going to have so much fun tonight!" The small woman clapping her hands together in glee and swinging her body left to right in a playful dance and not for the first time Urie wondered how this child like woman could be the infamous and powerful half-ghoul, The One-Eyed King. Before working for Aogiri and becoming a Quinx Urie had a childish vision of the person behind that large Kakuja, he had dreams of a large well-built man with a gleaming smile that shone though the shadows and a bellowing laughter as his one red eye looked down on his crushed victims, Urie's father being one of them.

He wondered how the CCG would react if they discovered the ghoul who had killed so many was this small woman who was the famous author, Sen Takatsuki

"Where are we going?" Urie asked getting straight to the point because he didn't want to play these mind games with Eto, he may want to go up the ranks of Aogiri but that didn't mean he had to like Eto, the bitch had killed his father after all….

"Wow, you excited tonight!" The woman giggled stepping closer to the Quinx and reached out her bandaged arm towards him "Don't worry you will just be doing a little job for me, take my hand"

Urie hesitated and stared at the outstretched hand that beckoned him closer but Urie didn't like the way Eto's dark gapping black holes for eyes stared up at him or the fact that no emotion could be seen though the bandages, she was like a Phantom, something that was too evil to exist.

Urie must have lingered in his thoughts for too long because suddenly the natural half-ghoul grew impatient and reached out to grab Urie painfully by the arm. The Quinx cried out in sudden pain surprised to feel her nails digging though the bandages but what hurt Urie the most was her deadly grip on his arm, he was sure if he still had his normal human body all the bones in his arm would have been crushed by now but he was sure all Eto had to do was squeeze a tiny bit harder and then his arm would fall apart.

While keeping a grip on his arm Eto turned on her heal and dragged the struggling Quinx towards the edge of the roof and that was when Urie really began to panic, she wasn't going to throw him off was she? He was a successful QS experiment, it would be a waste to kill him! But he had no more time to think about it because with her amazing strength Eto pulled him off the ground and dangled him on the edge of the roof.

Urie did not dare look down but he only stared wide eyed at the monster who had control over his life but he supposed it was better than looking down where his feet dangled 30 feet above ground. Did he dare use his Kagune or would the queen drop him if she noticed he was about to attack? He knew he couldn't survive the drop, he couldn't risk it.

"What you doing?!" Urie screamed out and he was sure he noticed Eto's bandages turn up into a smile.

"Have nice 'trip' Urie" She said sweetly as let Urie's arm slip from her grasp and Urie couldn't help but scream for dear life. The cold wind rustled against him as gravity pulled his closer and closer to the ground and further away from Eto's looming glaze, soon he couldn't keep his eyes open for much long and had to shut them. There was nothing for him to grab onto and his kagune couldn't help him in this situation, he was thinking too much that he didn't notice a looming shadow coming closer towards him it was only when two small hands grabbed him by both his arms that he was sent hurling towards the other direction. He felt robes of cloth wrap themselves around him as he was gently guided to the ground.

By the time Urie opened his eyes his feet had already hit the floor and he was greeted by the sight of Eto who looked no different, well apart from the large winged kagune on her back however. She must have caught Urie while in mid-flight and used her kagune to slow down the fall and land them both too safely.

Urie had never felt such a powerful rush of adenine, despite once being an CCG investigator he had never felt so close to the blink of death or felt his heart pump out of his chest like the base of a drum, the sound echoed in his eardrums he sure that Eto could hear it.

"Ok that's enough fun" The one-eyed ghoul said brushing the invisible dust from his robes "Let's get to car". _So that's wasn't his punishment?_

Urie wished he could sit down on the cold stone ground, his feet where still wobbly from suddenly being on ground and he hadn't gotten over his rush but then he remembered the pain in his arm when Eto grabbed him for being too slow so he decided to silently follow behind her towards the car which was waiting for them on the road.

Once they came closer to the black corsa Urie noticed Noro sitting in the driver's seat dumbing his hands in boredom but looked up when he noticed Eto and Urie had reached the car. Eto pulled the back door open and gestured for Urie to get in.

"Get in and make yourself comfortable" The one-eyed ghoul said "We're in for a long trip"

Xxx

For past half hour Urie had been watching the scenery fly past him through the glass window of the moving car. The ride was awkward and silent and Urie couldn't help but feel out of place and for the first time in his life he wished that Eto would put on some crappy radio song or something. He had gotten over his shock from being pushed of the roof and was able to assess the situation at hand. They seemed to be heading out of the city, the houses and building where becoming smaller and fewer and trees and wildlife was starting to be seen more frequently. He knew that the ghouls in front seat wouldn't hurt him, Eto had confirmed that herself and that gave him a little comfort but he couldn't help but wonder what Eto wanted him do for her.

Soon enough the buildings had completely disappeared and they were surrounded by nothing but trees and he noticed Eto nod to her servant and pointed to a spot on the side of the road. That seemed to place where they would be stopping.

As soon as Noro parked the car to the side Eto unbuckled her seatbelt and slammed the car door open and hoped out with Noro following suit so Urie did the same. Noro then opened up the boot of the car with a click and lift the hood up to produce a large bag, the type of bag the ghouls of Aogiri use to pack bodies.

The three now stood facing a cluster of thick oak trees that seemed to look taller in the darkness but the height of the trees wasn't what was important. Too the thin and hidden for anyone to see was a small narrow path where people had trodden on to cut though the cluster of trees and Eto was leading them towards it.

Lead by Eto with Noro taking the rear Urie walked in-between the two powerful ghouls trying not to stumble on hidden tree roots or slip on wet mud from when it rained last week and since they were going downhill it didn't make things any easier. He needed to use tree branches to steady himself and needed to hold on to long pieces of grass so he didn't fall face forward into Eto.

Urie envied the two ghouls leading him, Eto just seemed to skip effortlessly along the path leaping over fallen trees and rocks while Noro just seemed to glide like a ghost uncaring of everything around him, it creeped Urie out and what was worse was that the whole woods was silent. There were no birds in the sky or nesting in the trees nor was there the rustling sound of nightlife hiding in the brushes there wasn't even the sound a cricket. It was like the entire woods was dead.

Soon enough they had reached the bottom of a river, the trickling of water was the first sound Urie had head since coming to woods and it gave some comfort but as he followed the river with his eyes ne noticed that water was pouring out of a large red sewer pipe, large enough for a man to crawl though.

"Ok here's your job" Eto said specking for the first time in half an hour "Noro give him the bag please" And with that the clown masked ghoul dropped the empty large bag into Urie's arms and the Quinx tried not to shiver, he knew what this bag was used to store yet he couldn't see any dead bodies or anyone alive to kill so how was he to fill up the bag? If that's what Eto wanted him to do….

"Your job…" Eto started as she pointed to the sewer pipe "Is to go through that large pipe over there, you will have to travel a bit but I want you to stop when you notice a large pile of wet leaves and twigs and under them they are hiding a loose bit of the pipe in which you can climb into, once you have done that collect what's inside then comeback with a full bag.

"What is it I'll find in there?" Urie asked, that's all he seemed to be doing today, asking questions but Eto just shook her head and tutted as if he were an infant.

"Now, now, you don't was to spoil the surprise now do we? Oh and I forgot to tell you, once you find it I want you to open the bag and you will find a letter inside but don't open the bag until you find what I want and not before, understood?" The queen asked and Urie nodded seeing no point in asking questions. Urie took a deep breath and ensuring his fear and anxiety couldn't be seen behind his cold expression and Quinx swung the bag over his shoulder and climbed in to the stream with a splash, luckily the water only reached past his ankles (A good job he decided to wear boots today).

He reached the sewer pipe and it looked like he would have to crawl though it and he dreaded the thought, already Urie could sniff out the smell of damp and the fishy smell of dirty water which came with it. He looked about at Eto and Noro who stood a couple of feet away from him, the pair waved him off and Urie checked out the surrounding area.

All that surrounded him was trees, he knew he's wasn't strong enough to fight Eto and Noro combined but could he out run them and loss them in the tree's and darkness? Probably not and he was sure Eto would of taken some measurements to stopping him escaping though the sewers. Turned back to the sewer and crouched but not before taking a deep breath of fresh air before entering the sewers, might as well get it over with.

Xxx

Somewhere in the middle of the 6th ward was the little café of Re where Hideyoshi Nagachika sat upstairs where he slept…or mostly worked with his desk lamp being his only light and piles of new data and photographs spread out over his small wooden desk. Chie was fast sending the information to him that she had hacked into the CCG's database…Again and Shuu had given him some newspaper articles on the resent events. The fact that Kaneki was involved in attacking the CCG cars had been confirmed and three new ghouls had been shown to the public but no names had been decided. Of course each of these ghouls where masked and it was hard to see since they only had CTV footage on them but Hide could worry about that later.

There was also a recent article that Shuu had shown him, it hadn't been published in the newspaper yet but on the internet and it talked about a ghoul breaking into an Investigators house. The details on the matter were vague at the moment and it be false since the newspaper companies got most of their popularity on ghoul stories however if it was true then the reports would get more information and proof but Shuu seemed to think it was Aogiri's work since the investigator who got his house broken into was the same guy who had an interest in Kaneki, Arthur Reed.

Thinking back on the conversation he had with Tsukiyama what the Gourmet had said made sense. They were getting nowhere into finding Kaneki but using other people who Aogiri had an interest in or who were interested in Aogiri themselves could lead him to the Centipede ghoul and he was sure that there was a squad in the CCG who were looking into Ken Kaneki and he was sure Arthur Reed was one of them.

Tsukiyama had also told him that he has sent his servant, Kanae Von Rosewald keep track on Arthur Reed which didn't make Hide feel any better. Rosewald one of the ghouls who was at the auction raid all those months ago and didn't think that he could be trusted with such an important mission, besides Rosewald had nothing to do with Kaneki and from what he had heard Rosewald didn't even like the Centipede ghoul, he would have to check on the German tomorrow morning.

So basically his best course of action was not to spy on Aogiri Tree but on the CCG. Soon enough Hide heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" He called out and he wasn't surprise to see Touka creaking open the door and a look of disappoint written over her face when she noticed the piles of papers on his desk and she bit her lip from saying anything. Touka wasn't stupid, she knew Hide hadn't been resting like he had promised but she didn't complain because the young man suddenly looked brighter than Touka had seen him, almost hopeful.

"I'm going off to bed" The female ghoul said "Are you going out tomorrow?"

"I might be going back to the 1st ward to check on Rosewald" Hide commented turning away from the woman to look back on his papers "Tsukiyama got him to check out this Arthur Reed guy but I don't trust him"

"Nor do I" Touka said shaking her head "I'll come with you to the 1st ward tomorrow morning, Yomo can handle the shop for a couple of hours and I want to find some ghouls who would want a part time job, this café keeps getting more popular by the day and I think we need more staff"

"Sound like a good idea" Hide nodded, it made more sense to hire ghouls rather than humans since one of the café jobs was to support ghouls and he was sure some ghouls would like to get off the streets…Well Hide just hoped whoever Touka decided to hire they would be nice ghouls who wouldn't want to eat him.

Xxx

This was probably the most disgusting thing that Urie had ever done in his whole life, not even slicing the skin of the ghouls during the action raid could compare to this. Well at least he got a rush from that but this was something else.

The pipe gave him very little room to stretch his mussels which were now ached from crawling for what felt like forever, his back, knees and elbows where in the most pain but that wasn't the worse part because for once Urie didn't envy Saiko's nor Hinami's heightened sense of smell or he could have been knocked out in seconds. He had to keep his mouth closed and breathe in what little air there was because most of it smelt toxic and nauseating and the Quinx was having trouble keeping his mouth and nose covered with his jacket.

One of the awful things as well what the darkness. Eto hadn't provided him with a flash light so he had to feel around for the pile of leaves that the queen had told him about which made the work slower since he had to made sure he still had the bag with him and he had to ensure he didn't breath in too much poisonous air, plus the sound of rats scattering around didn't help calm his nerves.

This was very different from the sewers he had to go down to meet the Provider.

He almost breathed a sigh of relief when his hand met with the smooth silky feel of a leave, his chest leaped in joy and hoped that it wasn't some stray leave that drifted off into the sewers but has he reached his hand out further he noticed more of them were in a large mushy pile and the Quinx grinned, his torture was nearly over...

He hurriedly pushed the leaves out of the way and felt around the bottom of the pipe and just like Eto had promised it felt hollow compared to the rest of the floor and there was also a large part of the pipe where the shews where loose. The Quinx urgently pushed the loose piece of metal and he could feel it shift under him and carefully Urie lifted the secret hatch up and pushed it back further into the pipe, next Urie was greeted by black dark hole where the Quinx could just jump down.

First Urie grabbed the large bag from behind him and threw it down the hole and listened as he heard the thump of the bad hit the ground, at least it wasn't a long drop. So awkwardly turning his body around so his feet landed on the ground first he jumped into the hole and he landed on his feet in seconds and straightened his back his head just bumping the ceiling and then picked up the bag next to him. The Quinx took in his surroundings and soon enough automatic lights switched on revealing the room in a dim light.

Urie could tell that this was an Aogiri made room, like the underground base in the 18th ward the whole room was covered in metal from the ceiling to the floor and was roughly the size of the QS lounge yet the room was empty. Eto had told him to come here to collect whatever he found however the only thing he could find was small puddles of water and air particles. But what gave Urie some clue to what he was looking for was the air, it was cold but at the same time it was humid like it was keeping something cold yet moist and it felt like that most of the air came from under the floor.

The Quinx stepped forward, and searched the room where there could be secret button or something, he doubted Eto would bring him here for no reason and he was right because as soon as Urie could take a couple more steps forwards he felt his foot drop further than it should and he looked down to find that his foot had stood on a tile that sunk deeper into the ground…A secret button?

His answer was confirmed when the floor suddenly shifted under him, Urie cried out in shock and took a few steps back as the middle of the floor began to slide open Urie watched in fascination the metal floor slid under its self and the room suddenly became colder. Urie clutched his bag tighter and waited until the floor had finished with his business and once it stopped the whole middle of the floor looked like it had been cut out into large square shape, just the right size for a family swimming pool.

Urie carefully approached it and noticed that the large square was filled up with water but as he approached closer he started to notice humanoid shapes floating around inside but they didn't look like humans should.

Once he got to the edge of the large pool did Urie understand and sudden shock and terror filled his body before disgust and horror sunk in and the Quinx uncharacteristically back away dropping his back the ground and sunk to the floor trying not the throw up because the things inside the pool where floppies, failed one-eyed ghoul experiments that had died since their bodies couldn't withstand the biological change. However these weren't normal floppy experiment's, Urie recognised them despite their misshapen body parts, area's where the arm and chest had merged into themselves and some had limbs which were missing but Urie recognised their faces.

During the action raid it wasn't just him and his three comrades that had been taken, sixteen other CCG investigators had been taken along with them and they hadn't been so lucky. Urie thought that Aogiri had disposed of their bodies and in a way they had but not in the way Urie thought. Why did Aogiri place them here and what was the purpose? Also why did Eto want him to put their body parts in the bag? This must be part of his punishment, to show Urie was Aogiri was capable off and that no one was safe but was purpose was it for? Why where their bodies storied in this underground room floating in water?

Urie tried to get a grip of himself, he couldn't calm his breathing nor his dinner which was threatening to come back up on him. Could he really do what Eto was asking off him? He couldn't even look at the misshapen beings which where once his co-workers but what would happen if he refused? He looked back at the bag he had dropped and suddenly felt sick at the thought of what needed to be done but with trembling hands he reached of the bag and slowly unzipped it and looked for the letter that Eto said he would find inside.

Soon enough his hands found the page and taking it out to find a letter written in nice carful handwriting and Urie read the letter once then twice and then three times to understand and process the information.

It was confirmed that the floppies in the sewers where indeed his old co-workers and it also explained to him what the body parts would be used for, they were basically Providers payment. Some ghoul had a particular taste for meat, some liked old people and some preferred young woman but Provider was a special case, he liked his meat moist and he had grown practically fond of the taste of floppies…

Urie scrunched up the letter and turned back towards the pool, he so badly wanted to run away so he wouldn't have to face this but if he ran were would he go? And surely Eto would find him easily and besides he had his own reasons for staying in Aogiri.

"Sorry guys" Urie mumbled, he had work to do.

Xxx

All the way in the 18th ward Mutsuki sat alone on one of the old worn-out benches that sat outside their hidden base, the green haired Quinx took a sip of his coffee which was starting to get cold. The night air felt mild and Mutsuki would have been at peace if he wasn't so worried about Urie. The Eyepatch Quinx had been waiting for nearly half an hour since he saw Urie get in a car while climbing down the stairs and he had been waiting since.

Mutsuki's thoughts were interrupted when he felt something warm brush his cheek and the Quinx jumped and turned to the side to find Shirazu standing beside him with a new hot cup of coffee in his hand which must have been the heat Mutsuki felt before.

"Here, your coffee must be cold by now" Shirazu handed Mutsuki the cup and the green haired Quinx took it gratefully and mumbled his thanks then Shirazu sat down beside him with a sigh, "waiting for Urie?" Shirazu asked and Mutsuki nodded sadly,

"I know Eto won't hurt him" Mutsuki said "But I can't help but worry, Eto's very creative after all"

"yeah" Shirazu nodded "Seriously I tried reading one of her books once and it was depressing and fucked up, I don't know why Nekisan likes reading them!" Mutsuki nodded agreeing and took a sip of his new cup of coffee and suddenly felt a lot warmer.

"You know…" Mutsuki started, wanting to change the subject "What you did tonight was amazing, you manged to get Saiko out of bed, I was surprised"

"na" Shirazu said turning away looking awkward "I was only doing what any squad leader would do, if it wasn't for Urie and that talk this morning my job would have been a lot harder"

"You do know that Urie was lying right?" Mutsuki questioned and Shirazu turned back to his friend,

"Lying?"

"Yeah, I spoke to Kaneki-sensei about it after training" Mutsuki explained "Even if you don't work you will still get Aogiri's protection and support"

"Huh!" Shirazu gasped suddenly standing up "I didn't think Aogiri were that nice?!"

"I think it's only because they don't want the knowledge of the Quinx experiment getting out yet" Mutsuki explained "One of the Aogiri guards got a newspaper about the CCG car raid from the other day, the media and CCG just think we are a new set of ghouls but they know every little about us"

"Oh great" Shirazu said rolling his eyes "we're going to end up with ghoul names and having our faces on wanted posters now! Now ironic…But still lying to Saiko…"

"I know lying is bad" Mutsuki said agreeing "But at least she's trying a little harder now and is going to training sessions so it might be best to keep the truth from her for a while"

"You're right" Shirazu said nodding "But what can I do? And Nekisan doesn't make it any easier…Why does her let her act like that anyway? It was the same when we were in the college, he didn't try motivating her or anything"

"Your right about that" Mutsuki said wondering what Kaneki's reasons where because despite knowing the half-ghoul for all these months there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the mentor, stuff he refused to talk about even Hinami wouldn't give the Quinx any clues on what happened to the Half-ghoul. In fact Mutsuki didn't know much about Hinami or any of his squad members himself…

 **Note: Well the chapter of the year and it was a messed up one at that so happy New Year! And let's hope that 2016 will bring some happiness to our favourite Tokyo Ghoul characters (ha, unlikely).**

 **This chapter was really hard to write since I couldn't get in the mood due to Christmas and New Year but unfortunately I'm going back to college next week so I'll be in the dark Tokyo Ghoul mood once again.**

 **Aww but poor Urie, I'll have to be little nice to him…for now anyway and yeah what Urie saw in the sewers is going to be important to his character development and what he's going to do in the future, it also sets up more of Providers character since he is important to the story.**

 **So in the next chapter Kaneki is going to the 11** **th** **ward and what fun that will be with all those weird characters. To be honest I'm look forward in giving Alethea more character and writing Naki but this is a Takizawa centred arc so remember that.**

 **Oh and thanks to those who read and reviewed the Omake last week, hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	36. Takizawa Arc: Next Steps

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 11: Next Steps**

To Kaneki's dismay dark grey clouds is all that loomed over him that morning and it looked like rain was going to follow. It was ten o'clock am and Kaneki was the first to come to the meeting place which was outside Aogiri's base but he shouldn't be surprised if his team mates were going to be a bit late. When he left Shirazu was busy getting Saiko out of bed, Mutsuki woke up late because of the amount of time he spent waiting for Urie, the purple haired Quinx still seemed out of sorts about what happened last night Kaneki had tried talking to him but he just shrugged him off. And of course he couldn't expect Naki of all people to be punctual and Hinami was still in the middle of packing and then there was Takizawa.

Kaneki was thinking if he should try looking for the other half-ghoul, Takizawa lived in his own world most of the time and surely he would forget about leaving for the 11th ward but then after a second those thoughts came into his head he saw the door to the building open and saw Takizawa step out. Kaneki thought that he had never seen the other half-ghoul look so close to normal, Takizawa's robes and strange battle outfit had disappeared and where replaced the baggy jeans and a black hoodie which looked too big for him but at least it hid his white hair and face, he also carried a small plastic bag which looked like a bungle of clothes.

"Hey Takizawa!" Kaneki called out waved to get the other half-ghoul attention and Takizawa's large brown eyes widened when he noticed the Centipede ghoul calling out to him with a kind smile on his face. The Owl walked cautiously towards Kaneki feeling a little nervous and scarred as he usually did in the Centipede's presence but lately Kaneki had been very nice to him like helping him wash his hands, letting him sit in on training sessions however why did he have nightmare visions on the black haired half-ghoul standing over with a large Centipede Kakuja coming out of his back?

"Is that all your taking with you?" Kaneki questioned nodding to Takizawa's small plastic bad and white haired half-ghoul nodded looking down at the floor feeling ashamed…But why? Was it because he felt like Kaneki was looking down on his as he held his large duffle bag over his shoulder and here was Takizawa with only a small bungle of clothes and nothing else. Takizawa didn't have any need for material possessions, what he did keep safe was buried and locked up somewhere until he came back to the 18th ward.

"Well if you need to borrow anything just ask" The Centipede ghoul said smiling patting Takizawa on the shoulder and the Owl ghoul suddenly felt touched by the kindness which was something he only felt when Naki woke him up in mornings or made sure he ate and bathed.

"Well and I thought I saw going to be late!" A voice shouted out the two half-ghoul turned to see walking out of building. The ghoul, much to Kaneki's annoyance, was wearing his usual white suit that made him stand out and he dragged behind him a large pink suitcase which was making the Centipede's ghouls eye hurt.

"Are you an idiot?" Kaneki question but then felt stupid for asking because of course Naki was an idiot! Naki used to hate Kaneki since he was one of the reasons why Yamori was dead however once Eto explained that what Naki heard wasn't true was that Ken-chan and Yamori where 'play buddies' and was killed by the CCG instead, Naki hadn't even bothered the half-ghoul at all.

"What did you just call me?!" Naki shouted but Kaneki just rolled his eyes, he asked this question every time someone asked him if he was an idiot so this was nothing new.

"We are going to sneak though the wards with eight people carrying luggage while trying not to be spotted by the CCG or the humans and here you are wearing a flashy white suit and carrying a pink Barbie suitcase which screams to be noticed, so yeah you are an idiot" Kaneki couldn't help but add that one last detail and it was worth it just to see Naki face go from angry, to shocked and then from angrily shocked.

"You bastard…" But that ever Naki was going to say or do next was interrupted but the doors of the building opening once again with Hinami and the QS squad following closely behind her all off them carrying either a duffle bag or and backpack over their shoulders all of them (besides Hinami) looked drowsy and tired, there feet dragging them towards the gate and Urie looked the worst like he hadn't slept a wink all night (Which he probably hadn't).

So it looked like the whole gang was here however Kaneki didn't remember being friends with a bunch of zombies….

"You're going out like that Naki-san?" Hinami asked politely and the blond ghoul found himself stuttering and blushing, of course it was difficult to get mad at Hinami even for Naki.

"It's not my fault!" Naki cried as every stared down at him "I only ever wear white! And besides aren't we taking a car?!"

"I'm afraid Quinque metal isn't the only thing that we are running out on" Kaneki explained "Nearly all the cars are low on gas and no one has been out to get more so at some point we will have to stop at a gas station to fill up and that's going to dangerous considering the root we will have to take"

"He's right" Mutsuki said nodding "I was looking up our root and the fastest way to the 11th ward is going through the 1st and 4th wards which all belong to CCG, including the 6th ward which we are under strict orders to stay away from so we should take the long root though wards 17, 19, 20, 14, 13 and 10 which have increased with GGC and ghoul behaviour, the 20th ward in particular has shown an increase in Doves over the last four years"

"So we should stop for petrol before we reach that ward" Shirazu said before tuning to their leader, "Hey Nekisan, do you think it would be easier if we go by foot though the sewers or stick to alleyways, or maybe train? And doesn't it seem very risky to go to the other side of Tokyo in the busiest hour of the day"

"The city is going to busy no matter which time we set of" Kaneki said "Besides both of those form of travel are dangerous, we haven't managed to locate ourselves around the underground fully enough to not get ourselves lost for the next hundred years and with our numbers and the luggage we need to carry it will make us noticeable on the train including the alleyways, not to mention mine, Hinami's, Naki's and Takizawa's faces are known to the public, you Quinx are the only ones who can move around more freely as long as you stay away from the Doves who might recognised you, so Urie's driving"

"Huh?" Urie questioned, he was driving and not Shirazu? Well he knew that Shirazu wasn't the safest driver but still…Did this mean that Kaneki trusted him now? He doubted it.

So the group set off towards the garage where cars of different makes and sizes where kept, these cars were stolen from victims of ghouls attacks and suicide victims and they were changed and swapped around regularly but the oldest kept car in the bunch was the eight seater car which must have stolen from an American. The thing was huge and white and just screamed 'look at me!' it was a huge risk but they had to stay together and this was the only car which could carry eight people and it also had darkened windows so people couldn't see the inside.

They opened the large slide in doors and Kaneki pushed Naki and Takizawa towards the back three seats since they were the most strongest and well known to the public. Hinami then sat in the middle seat of the middle row in-between Saiko and Shirazu while Urie took up the driver seat with Mutsuki next to him but not before putting the entire luggage in the boot.

Let's just say that the car at this moment was very full and Kaneki just hoped that there wasn't going to be any traffic.

Xxx

Hide and Touka were dressed and ready to visit the 1st ward, Yomo was nervous about the fact that both of his younger friends were traveling to a Doves ward, even Hide because despite him being a human because he was known to the CCG but they were determined and Yomo couldn't stop them.

"Stay away from the main office" Yomo added before they left "And try to look as normal as possible and make eye-contact with no one".

"We know where doing" Touka interrupted pulling on her coat and fixing the buttons "I will call you if there is any trouble" And with that the trio left, Touka's mood seemed a bit dark but Hide was touched with Yomo's concern, at least someone cared for them.

They planned to take the bus, the same one Hide took yesterday and they were to meet Chie and Rosewald at a bar away from the CCG's main office but not too far in case anything came up. The bus ride and packed and bumpy and Touka remembered why she preferred walking, being trapped in a small space with a crowds of humans was suffocating and made her sick. Why did so many people have to take the bus? But then she felt a gentle squeeze on her arm and she didn't have to turn to know it was Hide trying to comfort her and Touka thought how lucky Kaneki was to have someone like Hide to be his friend or maybe…she was lucky to have Hide as a friend.

Finally for what felt like hours to Touka (which was 10 minutes) they arrived at the 1st ward and Touka only started to feel worse, already she had counted eleven white coated men and woman and she had just got off the bus.

"So this bar…?" Touka questioned, feeling uneasy as her glaze shifted from both sides of the road while staying away from people in her path.

"Just up this road" Hide said reassuring the ghoul with a smile and lead her though the crowd of people down the road keeping an eye out for Investigators on the way.

Xxx

Little did Hide and Touka know was that Chie and Kanae had been at the Oceans'r for a while now, the two wanted to talk privately before more visitors came to join the club. The two had found a table close to the back, the building was very modern like most of the buildings in the 1st ward, the interior consisted of mostly black, white and sliver furniture with its shiny tables and chairs and the long counter where the beers and alcohol where on display. Kanae didn't understand why humans drank such stuff, he tried it once at it was like someone had stuffed petrol oil down his throat but he wasn't here to question humans and their strange habits he was here to talk to Mouse.

"I still need to track down that Urie and Shirazu" Chie rambled on as flicked though the pictures on her camera "They haven't given me my payment yet"

"It's your fault, you should of gave them a meeting place" Kanae commented, usually he wouldn't care less about how the mouse got her payments but if Chie had been more demanding of the payment and organized herself better then they wouldn't be going through all this trouble. The plan was to get on of Kaneki's students to send Chie a piece of Ken Kaneki's clothing so they could put a tracker device then randomly return it to the student to give back to Kaneki however they were having trouble tracking Aogiri or those kids down.

"Never mind about that" Chie said who was very quick to change the conversation "How is Tsukiyama?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Kanae said wearily rubbing the temples of his forehead, he was starting to get a headache "Master Shuu is hardly at home these days, his father worries greatly but he will won't show it and when Master Shuu does come home he's always in his study or the library researching but I don't know what".

"He's worried about Ken" Chie commented simply but Kanae rolled his eyes,

"You don't think I already know that?"He questioned the small woman in disbelieve, but seriously that Ken Kaneki was becoming a nuisance. When the supposed Half-ghoul showed up five years ago Master Shuu became obsessed with him, researching half-ghouls and all types of human and ghoul biology including the ROS disease and not long after Master Shuu ended buying the ungrateful mongrel a nice town house and ensuring he was comfortable and supported and then he thinks that invading a ghoul auction, taking away his prize and teaming up with investigators was a good way to reply to Tsukiyama family for their services. And now he was spending all his efforts conversing with the common ghouls in the sixth ward and he was dragging Kanae down in to all this.

"You know I'm sure Tsukiyama is grateful for the help" Chie said finally look up from her camera "Once we get Ken back I'm sure your master will back to his usual self"

"Yeah…His old self" Kanae sighed and Chie didn't look to impressed,

"What's wrong?" Chie asked placing her hand on her chin "don't you want your master to be happy?"

"Of course you stupid lit…" But he stopped himself and decided that it was worth taking his anger out on the pet "I want what's best for Master Shuu if it getting the Centipede ghoul back is all it takes then I'm happy"

"Really?" Chie questioned as she tilt her head to the side and placed the finger on her chin in thought "Is that what you want?"

"Na sicher! Roses don't lie" Kanae said taking out a rose from his coat pockets and held it towards his nose like an actor on stage,

"But you're not a rose" Chie argued back but Kanae didn't bother looking at her,

"For real…Like always you don't get the meaning, although back to our previous subject…" The German ghoul's eyes shifted towards the pet once again "How did you find those two kids anyway" He was referring to Urie and Shirazu, wasn't a bit lucky that Chie was able to kind them so suddenly after searching for four months?

"Don't know what you are on about" Chie started but Kanae leaned forward with the flower pointing at the girls face,

"Don't lie guinea pig" Kanae spoke with his voice low and warning "I know you were once a school mate of Master Shuu's, but don't forget that I can kill a mere human anytime"

"I think Tsukiyama will hate you if you do that" Chie explained "It seems like he loves me like a pet, he's known me for about as long as you. If there comes a need to kill me, he'll do it"

"Scheisse! Don't push your luck, you little mouse" But if Chie was going to reply it was halted by the sound of the door opening and Chie and Kanae turned to see the familiar faces of Touka Kirishima and Hideyoshi Nagachika entering the bar and Kanae face couldn't help but turn in disgust, now he had another pesky human to deal with but it was no matter, the sooner they could get the Centipede ghoul back the sooner his Master's happiness will come.

Xxx

For the first time in his life Kaneki was grateful for the invention of video games, if it wasn't for Saiko, Naki and Shirazu playing on their 3DS's or apps then the car would have been very noisy. Urie was concentrating on the road, Mutsuki and Hinami where reading books and the only person who had nothing to do was Takizawa but he was quite person anyway so Kaneki had a lot of space to think about Aogiri what their move in the 11th ward would be.

They had just reached the 19th Ward when Urie decided it was time to stop at a gas station, this ward was pretty normal had and even mix of ghouls and investigators which was very little so Urie was save to get out an fill up the car.

"I'm hungry" Saiko commented breaking the awkward silence in the car,

"Can you bear with it until we get to the 14th ward?" Kaneki asked "There are some people I was to visit there"

"You don't mean _them_ do you?" Mutsuki questioned as his body shuddered at thought of meeting 'those people' again.

"I'd rather talk to them in privet" Kaneki explained "so you lot can wonder off to find food, you should be save since Dove don't really pay attention to that ward"

And again they set off with their car now full of petrol and hopefully won't need to stop until they reached the 14th ward.

Xxx

"So that's our plan?" Touka questioned is disbelieve once Hide and Chie had finished explaining the plan and for once Kanae had to agree with her, the plan was dangerous and could result in them getting captured by either CCG or Aogiri.

"But looking for Kaneki has got us nowhere" Hide explained "However if we target someone who Aogiri or Kaneki has an interest in then we have a chance"

"And you think this Arthur Reed is person we're looking for?" Touka questioned, she didn't like this plan at all.

"Of course" Chie nodded enthusiastic "Reed was able to hold his own out against Kaneki in the CCG car raid so of course Aogiri will be interested in the person who can fight one of their strongest ghouls, also have you seen todays paper?"

"You mean the article about that ghoul breaking in to an investigators house?" Hide questioned, of course he knew about it since it was Tsukiyama who recommended him it.

"Yep" Chie nodded "And this morning Kanae was spying on Reed's house and he was surrounded by news reporters and everything!"

"It's true" Kanae said nodding "That Brit will be all over the papers soon enough and I heard as well that the ghoul who broke in killed someone in that house but the ghoul is said to belong to Aogiri".

"What ghoul would be stupid enough to break in to an investigators house?" Touka questioned "It's unheard of"

"I know" Hide nodded "But maybe this will give us the upper hand now that Reed's face will be known to the public including Aogiri.

"So you think more will come after him?" Touka asked uncertainly and Hide nodded,

"No doubt about it"

Xxx

The 14th Ward was a popular place for ghouls, not only was it famous for its surviving trend of cannibalism but it was also home to the popular running business called the Helter Skelter ran by the friendly and oh so talkative Itori. When Kaneki formed his group and took down ghoul restaurants four years ago he used to use this place a lot and it was going to become useful once again.

The group parked the car next to a supermarket; at least if they parked in a public space they wouldn't look too suspicious. The group tumbled out grateful to be in the fresh air and able to stretch their legs but before they were about to spilt off Kaneki called them all together in a circle.

"Ok at this point we spilt off but no one goes off on their own" Kaneki explained "Even though we have no Doves to worry about we still need to be weary of ghouls who live here, cannibalism here is a trend so keep your heads down and don't go off with anyone you don't know, Naki" Kaneki turned to blond ghoul "Your face is the most known so stay in the shadows and I think you should bring Hinami and Takizawa along with you".

"Can't I come with you?" Hinami asked clearly disappointed with the arrangement, she hated being apart from her brother now that it was so dangerous.

"I need to go to the Helter Skelter to talk to Itori in privet" Kaneki explained placing a gentle hand on Hinami's arm "We will meet back here in an hour and it gives us plenty of time to rest up and have a quick snack before continuing our journey besides I don't feel comfortable having Naki and Takizawa go off on their own"

"HEY!" Naki cried out angrily but his voice was ignored and group went their different ways, Saiko and Shirazu dragged Mutsuki and a reluctant Urie towards the supermarket for food while Kaneki, Hinami, Naki and Takizawa walked on quickly towards the darkened alleyways of the 14th ward keeping their hoods up (Or in Naki's case with his jacket over his head) ensuring no one would recognise their faces.

"So what's this Helter Skelter place?" Naki asked as soon they entered the dingy small back alleyways of the 14th ward which where a lot busier than any other alleyways in the other wards. Since it was a mostly ghoul ran ward a lot of the shops would have a small innocent shop like sweets or charity shops on the main road where humans would go however at the back of those shops there will be meat or drug deal which would be the source of most of the shops income rather than their front store.

"It belongs to the Clowns" Kaneki explains "I used to go there a few times and I need to speck with them again, so while I'm gone stay in hidden and don't get into any trouble, Hinami and Takizawa don't let Naki drag you to any cannibalism shows"

"Understood" Hinami said nodding and Takizawa nodded quietly behind her and they spilt of down the alleyways with Kaneki going straight on and Hinami, Naki and Takizawa going right. Kaneki breathed a sigh not sure if he was glad of the space or worried about letting his group spilt of on their own. He was sure the QS would be ok here in a place where no one knew them since the four mostly lived the 1st ward however he hoped that the Trio won't find themselves in any trouble.

Xxx

Back in the 1st ward Arthur Reed was on his break but for once he was having it in CCG's headquarters and not at a café some place which is what he had originally planned. For some reason Arthur had turned out to be quite popular with the Japanese Press because once he left his house this morning he was greeted with reporters with notebooks in hand asking him about the event from two nights ago. For some reason word had gotten out that a ghoul had broken into his house and killed one of his co-workers but the culprit who brought the story to the Press was still unknown.

Arthur was still sipping the last of his bland tea when a voice called out to him,

"Hey Arty" And the investigator looked up to find Kuramoto Itou smiling down at him with Juuzou Suzuya behind him, Arthur didn't know Kuramoto very well but he had heard a lot about Suzuya, the small investigator was quite the big shot in the CCG and was known for being quite eccentric but friendly towards his co-workers.

"You do know that we have all been summoned to Mado's office right, she had been trying to get a hold of you for the past ten minutes" Kuramoto explained pointing his fun towards the exit,

"Really?" Arthur asked looking up, of course Arthur left his phone off whenever he was on break so he wouldn't be disturbed.

"Yeah mine, Itou's and Shimoguchi's squad have been called" Suzuya explained, which were basically the squads involved in the Aogiri and Centipede cases.

"Why do they want us all together, has something happened?" Arthur asked,

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad" Kuramoto reassured "it's just that that some American CCG calling themselves the USGEP or something was came in demanding the speck with us"

"What!" Arthur gasped "They are here already?!" He knew that the USGEP were coming to Tokyo but he didn't expect them to here this soon, he doubted it was the chairman though for it to be this quick it must be one of his staff members.

"Yeah they are waiting for us right now" Suzuya said and Arthur stood up and left his cup on the table, it looked like things where about to get interesting.

 **Note: Yeah I know it's shorter than usual but this seemed like the right place to stop since the next chapter is going to get a little mad. We are going to have some new OC's coming in, the Clowns are entering and Naki, Hinami and Takizawa are going to be busy as well.**

 **I thank codename00guest, nissangtrlover2569, and Haruto Arima for reviewing on the last chapter, seriously thanks for putting the time in to review I love you guys xxx**

 **Oh have I mentioned that I have a DeviantArt account? Fanfiction is my favourite website but I do post pictures on DeviantArt as well, I usually draw Hetalia stuff but I do some Tokyo Ghoul as well if you're interested, the user name is 'Bexie4ever1996' and it has the same icon, I would send the link but Fanfiction is a bxxxx and won't let me :(**


	37. Takizawa Arc: Corrupted Societies

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 12: Corrupted Societies**

Not long after Kaneki spilt of from Hinami, Naki and Takizawa the Quinx were already munching on over expensive sandwiches, chocolate and snack drinks. The four were making themselves comfortable on one of the benches outside the supermarket but as Mutsuki looked up to the sound of rumbling grey clouds clashing against each other and the eyepatch Quinx couldn't help but shiver.

"Erm guys" Mutsuki started turning to his three teammates "I think we should start making a move, it looks like rain is coming"

"Yeah we should head in, maybe look around the supermarket more?" Saiko suggested trying to lighten up the quiet and tense mood,

"Don't you think we should try finding Nekisan and the others?" Shirazu suggested looking over to the direction the other half of the team headed, it was were the clouds seem to be at their darkest and Shirazu couldn't help but have a bad feeling.

"Oh they will be fine" Saiko said waving the orange haired Quinx off "I mean they know where we are and I don't think Maman would be happy with us if we put ourselves in a dangerous area for his sake"

"Yeah your right" Shirazu said shrugging the worrying thoughts out of his head "Their stronger than us and don't think their stupid enough to get into trouble"

"I hope so" Mutsuki couldn't help but say and then he turned to look at the ever so quite Urie who was also staring at the dark clouds up a head unaware of the conversation around him, it seems that Shirazu and Mutsuki weren't the only one with a bad feeling.

Xxx

Ken Kaneki stood outside the front door to the Helter Skelter, the rumbling of the storm clouds outside made him shiver and he felt lucky to be upstairs in the dimly lit corridor than to be out there. From the outside the place look no different than when he first came here five years ago, the dark nicely polished door that looked out of place in the plain corridor still had the black closed sign hanging up but he knew better to think that it was empty.

He knocked on the twice and waited thirty seconds before calling out,

"Itori-san, it's me Kaneki!" He knew someone was in there, he could smell them and he knew it was more than one person behind that door, "I need some information so if you aren't going to open up I'll just let myself in!"

Still no answer…This was starting to get tiresome and he didn't have all day to play with the Clowns games, so the half-ghoul sighed in frustration and reached his hand out towards the door handle but what he didn't expect was the door to be imminently opened and Kaneki stepped backed and his face filled with pure shock and terror as a large fat but humanoid face burst out, its eyes where black and hollow like caves and its face was pink rubbery like fat but what made the face even more horrifying was the large but drooping pig nose that remained Kaneki of a slug that has had it body squashed together.

Kaneki fell flat on his butt and he heard a familiar laughter above him and now he couldn't help but feel awfully stupid for letting himself get scarred so easily, he was sure if Eto was here he wouldn't of heard the end of it.

"Honestly Kanekichi" a young woman's voice spoke with a chuckle as she removed the mask with ease "For an SS rated ghoul you do tend to fall for the same trick twice, you really are hopeless!"

"At least I didn't faint this time" Kaneki argued back as he looked up to see the smiling youthful grin of Itori peering down at him as she held the floppy pig masked "However you haven't changed a bit, I see you are in to pig noses now" Kaneki nodded to the mask which had the similar kind of creepiness to the old woman mask from five years ago but he could see Uta had become more creative.

"Don't be so mean!" Itori shouted flicking her long red long red hair back from her large brown red eyes and Kaneki couldn't deny that she hadn't aged much from the last time he saw her, not that he found her attractive or anything… "Ah I remember the good ol' days when you were so sweet and innocent and here you are teasing my cute little pig mask that Uta-san made me!"

 _Cute?_

"Anyway" Kaneki started brushing himself off the door trying to ignore his embarrassment or the red appearing on his cheeks "I came for your help, do you mind if I come in?"

"Not all!" Itori said smiling as she opened the door wider for Kaneki to enter and he was not surprised to find that the bar hadn't changed either although it wasn't in a style which will go out of date anytime soon, the dim lightening showed only a single long black counter with rows of shelves running behind it stacked with all various alcohol and wines and he was hundred present sure that there would blood on those shelves to be mixed for ghoul customers.

Also sitting on the counter was some familiar faces, Nico dressed up in his usual bright and flamboyant get up with his pink flamingo shirt half buttoned with black skin tight trousers belted up with a bright orange belt that clashed horribly his outfit but luckily for Ken he was used to seeing awful colour combinations.

"Ah Kaneki!" The feminine dressed ghoul waved at the newcomer with a bright red smile, Kaneki smiled politely and nodded before his eyes wandered to the person sitting beside Nico, which was of course Uta. The goth dressed ghoul was sipping on a wine glass filled with blood but he didn't look up until Kaneki entered and smiled at the half-ghoul.

"Hey Kaneki long time no see, how do you like Itori's new Halloween mask?" Uta asked "it still needs a little work but if it scarred you…"

"Oh no" Kaneki said shaking his head and sitting down besides Nico "To be honest though, I couldn't tell the difference between the mask and the face"

"Hey!" Itori cried out and the three men chucked, well Kaneki had to get revenge on Itori somehow.

"It's been some time since we last saw each other isn't is Kaneki-kun" Uta said taking a sip of his blood but Ken kept his eyes locked on the mask maker,

"Yeah, the last I saw you was four months ago I must say you would make an excellent host, I didn't think that Clowns would take on such a big leading role" Everyone stared at Kaneki with shock and humour written on their faces, their little Kaneki was really full of surprises.

"Yeah I thought a recognised that Clown mask in the audience" Uta said, his large black eyes widened with interest as he remembered that fateful night "I'm sorry I couldn't greet you directly however I had a problem getting away from a certain investigator…" Now this was news to Kaneki.

"Anyhow" Uta said putting his now empty down his glass on the counter for Itori to pick up "I'm surprised to see you around here, Eto let you off her leash now?"

"She had sent me a few others to grain back authority over the 11th ward" Kaneki explained ignoring Uta's comment "I'm expected to take charge, however I haven't been to the 11th ward in years and I don't know the current situation over there, there is somebody waiting for us with the information but I can't trust a total strangers word"

"And I guessing this 'total stranger' works for Eto" Nico spoke resting his head on his hand "That's where there is no trust, yes?"

"Yeah" Kaneki nodded "Her name is Alethea and she was captured in the 7th ward by the CCG but we manged to free her before they could take her to Cochlea"

"Oh yeah it was all over the news a few day ago" Itori said handing Kaneki a wine glass of blood and went to fill up Uta's "They were saying they had something to do with you, I suppose you want more info on this girl then?"

"Yes please" Kaneki nodded before putting the glass to mouth, he was sure that Itori spiked this drink… "I want any info you can, just name your price"

"And are you sure that's all the information you want?" Nico said gasped dramatically with his hand over his mouth and mascaraed eyes wide open "But isn't there something else you want to know?"

"Yeah" Uta nodded "As soon as Eto let you out of the base I was expecting you to march in here and demeaned to know why I was hosting the auction that night and if I'm the spy who gave it away to Aogiri and CCG your hiding place?"

"No" Kaneki shook his head taking another sip of his drink, the blood and lingering taste of alcohol met his lips "Though I did think you guys were the traitors at first, you are the Clown after all so I expected nothing less, however while I living in Aogiri's base I got the feeling that the spy neither a ghoul or works for the CCG"

"Really?" Itori questioned sitting down in the seat next to Kaneki and leaning uncomfortably close to the half-ghoul "And what makes you say that?"

"Does this count as payment for the information you have on Alethea?" Kaneki asked with a slight smile, the Clowns weren't going to get more information than he was going to grain and he liked the feeling of being a little ahead of the Clowns.

"Mmm" Itori tilted her head back in thought "I don't know…it's not that important though it would be interesting to get more details on the matter"

"But don't you guys already know who the spy is?" Kaneki asked raising an eyebrow as the Clowns just shook their heads

"Nope" the Clown said unison and Kaneki couldn't tell if they were being honest or hiding something but it didn't matter anyway, he will find out the spy's identity soon enough, he was on the right track but if only Eto hadn't sent him away…

"So the price?" Kaneki asked before getting deeper into thoughts. Itori grinned placing her hands together of she could rest her chin looking they much like a Cheshire Cat,

"Well you see…" Itori started "Aogiri is not the only one who are interested in these foreign CCG's, even us Clown have trouble graining all the information it's like the Government wants the Japanese citizens to know as little as possible, even the people living in those counties don't know the details".

Kaneki wasn't going to ask how Itori knew about Eto wanting more info on the foreign CCG's and he was sure that the Clowns knew about Arthur Reed too.

"So what's the deal?" Kaneki asked finishing his glass "Do you want me to tell you what I learn about the foreign CCG's, can't you learn that information once I give it too Eto?"

"We aren't _that_ close to Aogiri" Uta explained as Itori refiled Kaneki's glass "Sometimes we have to do some digging to get the full story"

"And besides there is a catch" Nico said "We want this information _before_ Eto gets a hold of it"

"Why?" Kaneki asked raising an eyebrow,

"Nothing you need to worry about" Itori explained handing Kaneki the newly filled glass "But I will give some additional information if you accept the request, information that might help your investigation on the CCG"

"Already accepted" Kaneki stated taking another drink of once again alcoholic blood, he knew he shouldn't but it was a nice mix and it made feel better "However this additional information I'll be getting better be useful"

"Oh I'm sure it will" Itori said "I know you are a man of your word so I'll just tell you anyway…" The female ghoul paused for dramatic effect and sat back down again on her original stool "A little birdy told me that a small group of Americans entered the CCG's main office this morning, dress in black and white jackets and carrying quinque cases"

"So it's like Eto feared" Kaneki said enjoying the alcoholic blood, he tried to keep his mind sharp but the Half-ghoul was a light weight and couldn't help but feel the bubbliness sink in "The CCG are sending in new investigators"

"Of course not, you have it wrong" Itori said shaking her head in disproval "Most of the western countries have a different way of dealing with us ghouls, surely you must know this? If we lived somewhere like the US or the UK then we wouldn't need to hide our nature, we could have normal jobs, live among humans without them realising or caring what we are, what do you think would happen if they tried to bring this way of thinking to the Japanese citizens?"

"I have no idea?" Kaneki said looking down at his glass in thought "In Asia the existence of ghouls has been so demonised that the thought of co-existence sounds impossible"

"Of course it is" Itori said nodding grinning "Out of all the countries in the world Japan is estimated to have the highest population of ghouls and due to this so much tragic loss has been taken from both sides so…Why do think this country doesn't take up the western ways? Surely that way all those deaths could have been avoided?"

"I'm not sure but I guess you're trying to tell that CCG didn't call the USGEP in nor the BCGM in?" Kaneki said, so what was a British investigator doing here then if he wasn't called by the CCG? And why are there the American investigator entering CCG's main office? It made him think what had wound up the world so badly that suddenly they suddenly decided to interfere with the CCG's system.

"Thank you for bring this up" Kaneki said nodding his thanks "I will make sure you get that information before Eto does however I still want that knowledge on Alethea and soon"

"Well of course" Itori nodded "I haven't forgotten, maybe that additional information is too much to think about so I'll get someone to send you report on her but enough of that! Would you like your glass refiling?"

Kaneki looked down at his once again empty glass that he didn't realise he had finished, he must be getting drunk and it was only the afternoon however it hadn't been an hour yet and it had been so long since he had been away from Aogiri or the Quinx children, maybe one more drink wouldn't hurt….

Xxx

Hinami, Takizawa and Naki where taking a stroll keeping to darkest corners and looking for a place to take shelter, it looked like it was going to rain any minute however every sheltered place was already taken by the local ghouls who glared at the trio every time they tried to get close and Hinami had to pull Naki away every time he was about to complain or start a fight.

"Don't worry Hinami" Naki said who was leading the gang "I'm sure we can find some shelter before it rains"

"I hope so" Hinami said but that wasn't what she was worried about, she was worried about her brother who had been distant since being forced to join Aogiri, though he had tried his hardest to give her attention and see if she was ok he had blocked up his feeling and refused to talk about their old friends in RE.

She looked over to Takizawa who had been silently following them for past twenty minutes; she wondered what went on inside his head or if there was anything at all. The half-ghoul never spoke but he seemed to follow instructions ok and despite seeming to be in his own world most of the time he was still able to listen to people when they were talking. She hoped that this trip would be able bring out Takizawa's personality more and hopefully lean about him.

Hinami was too busy thinking about her friends and Naki was too busy searching for shelter that the only other person to look out for anything strange was unfortunately Takizawa who for the first time since he could remember felt like someone was watching him which was strange because he was the one usually doing to watching. Was it his ghoul senses kicking in? No, it was more like a sixth sense, something he had used a long time ago.

The white haired half-ghoul couldn't help but look up to the roofs of the buildings where a group six men, all ghouls, stood on the rooftops looking down at the trio and they looked like they were about to pounce.

"Move!" Takizawa shouted, his voice felt strange even to him but he had no time to think about it as he pushed Hinami out of the way before one of the ghouls could jump down of the girl. Naki spun around in time to find that five of the other ghoul had jumped down as well. All six of them were huge with large muscles hidden under their black jackets and their faces where covered up by the classic ski masks, let's just say Naki wasn't very worried.

"Hey goons!" Naki laughed "You've picked a fight with the wrong guy…" But the gang wasn't paying any attention, they pulled a gun like weapon from their pockets and shot at Naki who cried out in shock,

"What the hell" The white suited ghoul screamed as he pulled out the needles in his hand and sleeves and he couldn't help but feel confused, these where ghouls weren't they? So why did they have weapons? How could a needles stick into his hand and why was he feeling really dizzy right now?

"Hey!" Naki shouted as the goons then pointed there weapons towards Hinami and Takizawa who still lay on the floor and stared at their attackers in shock, Naki took a step forward but as soon as he did his legs failed on him and he crashed to the ground. However nor Hinami or Takizawa could help because soon enough the goons where shooting their needles towards them and Hinami pulled out her Koukaku kagune, the large butterfly Koukaku shielded her and Takizawa however to Hinami's surprise she could feel the sharp pain of the needles pierce though her kagune and she cringed. Where the needles made out of quinque steel? And what was in them? Already she could feel her kagune becoming weak.

Takizawa crouched under Hinami with his hands over ears but he didn't know why, it wasn't loud only the small pricks of needles sinking into Hinami's kagune could be heard. Maybe it was the fear making him tremble but if so he shouldn't be scarred because Hinami was protecting him, but he saw the Kagune lower slightly and looked up towards the female ghoul who was looking surprisingly tried, was it something in the needles? And where was Naki?

Hinami knew that she couldn't play defence forever, she looked down to Takizawa crouching in fear but if she let go and shield to fight would Takizawa be able to protect himself? The half-ghoul who could once put up a fight against the mighty Centipede ghoul was now reduced a quite wander who needed to be remained to eat and go to bed.

No, Takizawa couldn't protect himself.

Hinami put a hand on Takizawa's shoulder and the half-ghoul looked up at the girl who strongly fighting the drugs that where infecting her and the rain which was starting to fall.

"Run Takizawa!" She shouted "Go to my brother at the Helter Skelter, I'll fight them and get Naki then I'll catch up!"

Takizawa wondered what the female ghoul was planning to do and suddenly he feared for her rather his own life. She was staying behind to rescue Naki and to make sure that Takizawa got away.

How selfless.

Takizawa nodded, he could still remember the route that Kaneki took, he will get the Centipede ghoul and they will save Hinami together but now there was no time to plan the future. He gave Hinami a small nodded and shot off down the alleyway further and further away from the commotion. He looked behind him to see Hinami's Rinkaku had come out to join the battle but she looked so tired and weak. Those needles where doing something her but Takizawa was an Ukaku ghoul and he was fast, so maybe he could find Kaneki before anything bad happened.

So with his feet splashing on the newly forming puddles and ignoring everything around him he shot off towards the Helter Skelter with a new pounding in his heart and buzz of fear and excitement running though his body and he couldn't help but let a smile form on his face because for the first time since he could remember he felt alive.

Xxx

The CCG's main office was in a mixture of both confusion and hustle and the rumours were already spreading between staff members. Quite a number of people saw four strangers march in though the CCG's front entrance like they owned the place, two wearing black short jackets made of leather and another two wearing white leather jackets and carrying quinque cases. A few of the investigators thought they were a gang or something who were stupid enough to raid the CCG for cash however when the young woman in a black jacket flash her ID card towards the startled receptionist he inspected it then gave it back to woman nodding before picking up the phone to make a phone call.

Then a strange thing happened, the RC gates where suddenly turned off and the one and only Matsuri Washuu followed by two of his subordinates came to welcome the strange group and they lead further in the building but as soon as they went through the gates they turned on again. The only reason they would turn off the gate was if they were letting a ghoul though but the CCG would never let that happen, right?

Right now Mado's office had become the main meeting place, it was privet and they couldn't let any information about the case out to the other investigators. Akira Mado stood in front of her desk fidgeting with her skirt nervously for the past ten minutes, with her was Matsuri Washuu sitting at her desk like he owned it. Shimoguchi and his three squad members sat on the spare chairs that had been brought into the room and on the other side of them was Itou's squad along with Suzuya's squad.

It was the first time all these squad had been brought together but all of them looked as confused and started as the next because standing in front of them was the four strangers who had refused to sit down and going by the few sentences they had spoken they seemed to be American and be a part of a Government program called the USGEP and they refused to state their business until everyone they asked for had arrived and Akira cured Arthur, Kuramoto and Suzuya for their tardiness.

While she was waiting she had been trying to examine the strange group of American Investigators. The young woman in the black jacket, who seemed to be in charge, looked not much older Akira herself however her tanned skin and her funky brown curly hair tied in a high ponytail made her look youthful and her brown slight red tinted eyes showed intelligence and confidence.

Besides her stood a male around the same age as her, his skin looked darker than the woman's but looking at their face features they seemed to be brother and sister. He had the same curly brown hair but he didn't bother to tidy it and his eyes where the same colour of brown and red but they looked more sleepy and relaxed than anything and the way he held himself was slouched and uninterested, he was also wearing a black jacket.

But Akira was more puzzled about the two other people at the back, they were another pair of a boy and girl but they wore white jackets and unlike the two black jacket pair they looked younger, around eighteen or nineteen and they carried metal grey cases with them which looked like Quinque cases.

The girl had a playful and childlike look about her, her hair was died a bight bubble-gum blue and cut short and spiked around her ears. She had been staring around the room for the first two minutes before getting bored and put chewing gum in her mouth instead however the young male couldn't look anymore different; he almost seemed out of place in the misfit group. His hair was a plain bright brown that was cut in a ball shape and his face would of looked quite handsome if it weren't for the square shaped glasses that rested on his strangely large nose, but out of the four in the group he looked the most serious, the type who couldn't crack a joke, not even at a party.

Finally the door opened and Akira made sure to shot her best glare towards the late newcomers. Kuramoto and Suzuya stood in front with Arthur looking quite grumpy at the back, probably not happy about his shortened tea break, but his face seemed to light up when he spotted the group of Americans.

"Ali!" He greeted waving at the leader, whose name seemed to be Ali, and for the first time Akira saw the young woman smile. The woman walked over and took Arthurs hand and spoke in English,

"Oh Arty, it's so good to see you!" She said happily and bright eyed and Akira wondered how they knew each other.

"You too" He said nodding and he turned to Ali's brother and greeted him a high-five,

"Yo Oli" Arthur said "Still following your twin sister around I see"

"Oh shut up" Oli rolled his eyes and Arthur turned to the white coated kids who were staring at Arthur in wonderment, and so was everyone else.

"Oh you haven't met our new students have you" Ali said and pointed to the young male "That is Daniel Marley" And then she pointed to the girl "And this is Adrianne Wembley" She said and the blue haired girl nodded her hello with a big smile.

"If you lot are quite done!" Washuu spoke for the first time in ages and Akira was sure she could see a vein which looked on the verged of popping out of his head and for once Akira couldn't blame him. This meeting was turning out quite unprofessional, these where their guests however they summoned everyone involved in the Aogiri case but refuse to say anything more until everyone had arrived, they don't even mention their names and here they were having a nice cosy conversation with someone who wasn't even a part of the CCG.

"If we could all sit down and get this meeting started if you please" Washuu continued and the three late investigators sat down and finally they could start the meeting and learn more about what these Americans wanted.

"I'm sorry" Ali said in Japanese, turning around her face all serious and business like now as if the past few seconds never happened "There is point in explaining ourselves if everyone isn't here, usually we would start without late intruders however this is matter of importance and I can't avoid to explain things twice"

"You're from the USGEP aren't you" Akira stated "So I'm guessing this has something to do about one of your investigators, Victoria Cysice?"

"Yes" Ali nodded "Found dead a couple of days ago and only after a couple of hours of being in Tokyo"

"You can't hold us responsible for the death of every person who gets killed by a ghoul" Washuu said interrupting "We do our best to keep down their numbers but there will always be a few ghouls left to pop up when its least expected"

"Oh no you have it wrong" Ali said shaking her head "We don't blame the CCG personally for the death of Victoria Cysice, she was the type of woman who liked to rush into things with without thought so though it was a nasty shock to hear of her death she had it coming in a way"

"So you have come to find out the cause of death and hopeful get revenge?" Suzuya asked,

"Something like that" Oli said "in fact it's one of the duties the USGEP Chairman has given us"

"We haven't really introduced ourselves" Ali said "My name is Ali Woods and this is my brother Oli Woods, the two behind us are my students Daniel Marley and Adrianne Wembley and we are the USGEP's Chairman's, David Cysices personal squad and we are nothing but the best".

 **Note: Wow this was a fun chapter to write and I hope no one minds the new OC's but you didn't think that USGEP would let one of their members die without a fuller investigation did you? I can't wait to develop them further and we should get more on Alethea, she is an important character after all.**

 **I would like to thank Haruto Arima, , nissangtrlover2569 and codename00guest for reviewing on the last chapter and I would like to thank all those new people who have followed and favorited the story, seriously I love it how I get new people every week lol!**


	38. Takizawa Arc: Team Efforts

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 13: Team Efforts**

"David Cysices?" Akira questioned "I'm guessing he's related to the victim"

"She's the chairman's daughter" Ali answered with a nod "So you can see the urgency and importance in this investigation and that the ghouls who have done this are to be slain or taken for trail"

"Trail?" Washuu asked tilting his head back in confusion and surprised as did everyone else but Arthur nodded in understanding and took it upon himself to explain,

"Of course a trail" Arthur said "Since this country doesn't class ghouls as actual citizens there isn't a reason why they can't be sent to the US for judgement and these ghouls did kill the USGEP chairman's daughter so I would say that there is no reason for them not to take the ghouls responsible"

"But these ghoul may be difficult to trace, we know Centipede is one of them however we can't identify the other two" Washuu agued back "Besides ghouls are ghouls, they are criminals and are threat to our society with Aogiri being the main problem so what difference does it makes if we kill all the ghouls in that group"

"But it does make the difference Special Class Washuu" Ali said smiling though it looked grim and almost forced "I'll be blunt and I'd say that we as the USGEP don't care about the CCG's ways of handling things and this ghoul group called Aogiri is no concern to us at this point in time. We would not be here if it weren't for Victoria Cysices death and the three ghouls that killed her are our only concern"

"So you will help us catch Centipede?" Suzuya asked,

"Of course" Ali nodded with a smile "And if we can capture Centipede and if he really is the culprit then we should be able to find the other two"

"But you've heard of this Centipede ghoul right?" Kuramoto said uncertainly "He's a strong SS rated half-ghoul, he could even be a triple S and he has gotten away from Arima more than once"

"Kuramoto's right on this one" Shimoguchi said crossing his arms "We've had our best men and woman looking for him and though we have his name, face and other details he is still a menace and the last time a CCG investigator encountered in a full on fight was four years ago at the 20th ward battle and there was also four months ago when he encountered a ghoul who was probably SS or SSS rated and though there were no eyewitness there is evidence to say that he won that battle so who knows how strong he has become since then"

"True" Arthur nodded "Though I battled him in the CCG car raid and watched him fight the S rated Serpent I could tell he wasn't using the extent of his power or even his Kakuja, I think we should wait until know how powerful he is before perusing him"

"Oh I have no doubt he's powerful" Ali said "Victoria was no pushover yet according to your forensics she was killed with one blow, I want every single piece of info you have on this ghoul no matter how small or big, I want to know everything"

"I'm working on a portfolio of him" Akira said stepping forward "I have files upon files of information and I have built quite the profile on him, you are free to read it when you're ready"

"Thank you" Ali smiled, truly this time and Arthur couldn't help but think what it would be like having these two strong headed woman working together in the same room.

Xxx

Seidou slowed down a bit, he had been running at his fastest down the familiar twists and turns of the alleyways he had come down a few minutes before but now he needed to slow down and think about what direction the other half-ghoul could of headed. He knew when they spilt off Kaneki had kept going down the path when he and other two took a turning but the problem was what direction did the Centipede ghoul after that?

He came to a stop at the place where Kaneki had spilt off from them and then hurriedly strode down the road keeping a look out for hints or clues on where the Helter Skelter could be but the rain was starting to get to get heavier and though it was mid-afternoon the clouds were blocking out the sun making the sky blacked in a depressed hopeless grey, which was fitting for the mood he was in now.

It badly affected his eye sight and sense of smell and hearing and he almost felt like a human…Like he would know how that feels. Then his wandering eyes locked on a bunch of figures huddling for shelter under some shop banner and going by their baggy clothes they looked homeless therefor there was a good chance of them being ghouls and knowing where the Helter Skelter was.

Now all he had to do was ask.

"E-excuse m-m-me" The Owl ghoul crocked out, it must have been a long time since he used his voice because it was small and wheezy and it hurt this throat just to say those two words but he had to carry on, Hinami's and Naki' life was at stake. Lucky the men must have heard him because the three of them turned to the half-ghoul in curiosity.

"C-can you t-t-t-tell me where to find t-the Helter Skelter?" Seidou asked and he hoped that these men won't laugh at him to back away from him for being too weird but to his surprise they didn't. The looks in their eyes were ones of concern and worry. One of the men was kind enough to step up and point to the direction, he smelt like a ghoul.

"Keep going up the road" The man said "And you will come across the bridge, go across that and you will find a little modern built shop just on the corner and you can go up the stairs and you will find a door with a closed sign hanging up but if you knock and ask for Itori you should be let in"

"Thanks" Seidou bowed slightly and raced off trying to store all the information that the man gave to him, his feet splashing though the puddles while trying to keep his black hood from falling off because he knew it was strange for any human walking past to see a figure running at such unnatural speed but he had no choice, enough time had been wasted.

Soon enough Seidou was at the place described, well it looked like the right place, and it was modern building with a shop and some stairs leading up. Now the half-ghoul just hoped it was the right place but at least it looked dry inside, seriously he was soaking wet. His hoodie wasn't waterproof and the water dripping from it, including his wet shoeprint stained the once the dry floor as he walked up the stairs and he found himself in a corridor.

Quickly the Owl found the door that he was looking for. The door was nicely polished with a black closed sign on like that ghoul described but just to be save Seidou knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. He could hear sniggers of laughter from behind the door and he wondered what the hell could be going on in there.

The half-ghoul knocked again, louder this time and Seidou could hear the click click of high heel shoes coming closer to the door then he heard the locks turned and a beautiful woman with bright red hair opened the door wide and Seidou could smell the mix of alcohol and blood filling up the room.

"Oh hello there" The woman said, who Seidou guessed was Itori "You're Seidou Takizawa aren't you?" The woman asked getting up uncomfortably close to his face and the half-ghoul backed away from the overly friendly woman,

"Takizawa?" A familiar voice said from within the room and then Seidou noticed Ken Kaneki appearing from behind Itori and the Owl couldn't be any more pleased to see him however there was something different about him, his posture was more relaxed and less tense than usual he also swayed on his feet unbalanced. Seidou really hoped that the other half-ghoul wasn't drunk.

"What are you doing here and where's Hinami-chan and Naki?" the Centipede ghoul asked stretching his neck to look down the corridor as if the two ghoul would be hiding to pop out at any moment.

"That's why I came here, Hina…" But Seidou was interrupted when Kaneki took a couple of staggering steps forward out of the bar and then toppled over and if it wasn't for Seidou being there to catch him then he would off fell flat on his face, Itori and the two other clowns snigged in the background.

"Hinami-chaaaannnnn!" Kaneki dragged out his words as he spoke "Awww I hope my little sissy is having a good time with Naki, you should be with them" Kaneki uncharacteristically grinned up at Seidou and the Owl couldn't help but worry. Yes the Centipede ghoul was drunk and no way was he in any fit state to save anyone. He couldn't tell him about Hinami, if he knew his sister was in trouble he would end up rushing over there (while tumbling along the way) and probably make a fool out of himself or he could end up getting more violent than needed.

He was going to have to ask the Quinx for help but first he needed to get Kaneki away from those Clowns before he drank anymore.

"We're going back to the car" Seidou stated as he pulled the other half-ghoul over his shoulder and held him by his waist as Kaneki struggled to stand, surprisingly the Centipede ghoul felt quite light.

"Bye, bye you two" Itori waved at the two half-ghoul "I'll send someone to give you that information Kanekichi!" Kaneki goofily waved and the Owl ghoul had to pull the Centipede ghoul harder trying to get him far away from the bar as quickly as possible.

Once they were out the building the rain had calmed down a bit but it was enough to get both half-ghouls wet to the bones and Seidou turned to Kaneki.

"Hey, do you have your phone on you?" He wanted to call the Quinx and tell them what happened, they were the only ones he could rely on now.

"In my pocket" The Centipede ghoul stuffed his hand into his jacket pocket and clumsily handed the phone to Seidou. It was a standard tough screen phone and it didn't have password so Seidou could easily go through the phone and look though his contacts. Seidou couldn't remember ever using or owning a phone however pressing the buttons and swiping down the screen felt no different to riding a bike, like he had learnt to do this before and he could never forget it.

The first number he found was Urie's, so the half-ghoul pressed the number and held it to his ear listening to the ringing which was quickly answered by the purple haired Quinx.

"Hello?" Seidou could hear Urie's voice speck though the phone.

"Urie-kun, it's me Takizawa" Seidou said specking quickly and since he the QS had never heard him speak he felt like he had to explain himself,

"Takizawa?!" Urie gasped sounding shocked and puzzled by getting a phone call from the one guy who never specks and Seidou couldn't blame the kid, he was shocked himself.

"Look there is no time!" Takizawa explained "I need you and Quinx to pick us up by the Helter Skelter and quickly".

"Ok" Urie said who seemed to be understanding the emergency of the situation "What road are you on and we'll come and find you?" Takizawa gave him the name of the road and hung up the phone and put it back in Kaneki's pocket,

"Don't worry, our friends will be here soon" Takizawa begun to say but the other half-ghoul had already passed out, now all he had to was wait and hope that Hinami could put up a good fight.

Xxx

Hinami wasn't feeling so good. She tried to open her eyes but her vision was blurred and black spots where appearing in her vision and the banging in her head wasn't helping, nor was the sound of crying and shouting echoing in her ears. She wondered if this is what being drunk felt like…No, this was worse, she had been drugged.

She tried to stand so she could get a grip of her surroundings however her head and body swayed and she felt her body fall back forward and her head bumped against the cold metal floor. Where the hell was she? Then she felt a gentle hand on her head and pushed her hair out of her face.

"Take it easy Hinami-chan, there's not much to see here" Hinami recognised that the voice belonged to Naki but she kept her eyes closed since all she wanted to do was sleep.

"Wow they really knocked you out didn't they" Naki said with chuckle "you just rest, they should leave us alone for a while"

"But where…" But whether she finished her sentence she wasn't sure because suddenly tiredness took over her.

Xxx

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" Shirazu asked as they put Kaneki in the back seat of the car. The Quinx children had drove to the front of the Helter Skelter and they found the road with ease. They were shocked when they found Seidou and their teacher slumped over his shoulder just standing there in the slowly dying rain.

Quickly the QS had got out the car and Shirazu and Urie helped Seidou lay the Centipede ghoul on the back seats, already the QS could smell the blood and alcohol in their mentor's breath.

"I found him drink in the bar with some strange people" Seidou explained,

"Drinking?!" Shirazu and Mutsuki gasped in surprise, not Kaneki surely…

"I though he said he had something important to talk about with someone" Urie said staring down at his mentor disproval, this was pathetic…he left them alone for a quick drink? Some role model…

"Look something more important has happened!" Seidou said specking before anyone got into a rant "Me, Hinami and Naki got cornered by some ghouls, I manged to get away but they took down Naki and they were fighting Hinami but…"

"Wow slowdown!" Shirazu said waving his hands stopping Seidou in his mad tumble of words "some guys took down Naki of all people?!" Seidou nodded understanding Shirazu's and everyone else's shock.

"Hinami told me to run and find Kaneki-kun, she said that she'll catch up with me however if she beat those ghouls she should be here by now" Seidou spoke and he watched as everyone tried to process the information.

"And you've been taking care of Kaneki-sensei since you came here?" Mutsuki asked and Seidou nodded diverting his eyes to the floor,

"I know Hinami's and Naki's situation is more important" Seidou explained sadly "But I couldn't leave Kaneki-kun alone with those people and I don't think I can fight all those ghouls on my own, will you help me?" He turned to each Quinx in turn who stared at the usually silent ghoul is wonder and astonishment, not once had they heard the Owl ghoul mummer a word and here his was getting his words out in a rush and begging for help.

"Ok" Urie nodded and everyone turned to the purple haired Quinx "But of course it's the squad leader's decision" Urie added and everyone's attention turned back to Shirazu who could feel his head spin. First his mentor gets drunk, Seidou Takizawa starts specking and now Urie was being caring and suggesting they go and help Naki and Hinami… what the fuck was the world coming to?

But Shirazu snapped out of it and nodded quickly and turned to Saiko and Mutsuki, "You two should stay with Nekisan" The squad leader said, since Saiko didn't have much fighting power she would be useless against a group of ghouls who could take down Naki and he'd rather trust Mutsuki to protect their teacher.

"Me, Urie and Takizawa-san are going to help Hinami and Naki" Shirazu explained but before they could leave Urie unlocked the car and took out his and Shirazu's quinque cases then gave his keys to Mutsuki.

"If anything happens drive the car out of here" Urie said and Mutsuki took the keys uncertainly,

"But I don't know how to drive…" the eyepatch Quinx started but Urie shushed him,

"Then let's hope you don't need to" Then Urie and Shirazu followed Seidou quickly towards the place where he left Hinami leaving a confounded Mutsuki and scarred Saiko alone with their passed out teacher.

Xxx

Takizawa lead the way though the twist and turns of alleyways with Urie and Shirazu following closely behind him with their large metal cases in hand and it felt strange to Seidou. Since he awoke all those months ago he had been consonantly remained to be warned of the metal grey cases which were the very weapon that could kill him however the feeling of running alongside these people with the cases swaying against the sides gave him a nostalgic feeling that he couldn't explain.

But soon enough they had reached the place where Seidou had left the two ghouls and to his dismay it was empty, like there wasn't even a battle to begin with. There was no blood drops, corpses, kagune marks or anything, it was like everything that had happened had been cleared away then Urie spoke, saying what Seidou was thinking himself.

"Are you sure you have the right place Takizawa-san?" the purple haired Quinx asked unsurely, Seidou had to think and smell the air. Unfortunately the harsh rain from earlier had cleared most of the scent but for some reason the familiar smell of Hinami was slightly in the air and he could also smell chemicals and not the acid rain type.

"Yes" Seidou nodded "Its faint but I smell Hinami and something else…like chemicals"

"Are you sure it's not the rain?" Shirazu asked,

"No, it's not the rain" Urie spoke before Takizawa and sniffed the air for himself and he realized that the half-ghoul was right, something did smell strange about this place.

"There is some other chemical here, something that shouldn't be smelt in a normal alleyway" Urie explained and then a thought just passed though Takizawa's head and he quickly turned towards the two Quinx.

"The ghouls who attacked us had weapons like some sort of gun and they shot these needles at Naki and he fell down and when they shot the needles at Hinami's kagune she could feel herself getting weaker"

"Weapons?" Shirazu gasped "We could have got this info sooner Seidou!"

"Sorry" the Owl ghoul bent his head down apologetically "But the needles could still be scattered around and they could give us a clue on where they took Naki and Hinami".

"It shouldn't be that hard" Urie said "We only need one needle and show it around to the local ghouls, there can't be that many ghoul gangs who carry weapons"

"So let's get started then" Shirazu said and the trio got down on their knees and searched the soaking wet ground. They ran their fingers through the cracks and bumps of the cobbled pavement, they found ants, pieces of sharp glass and mud. Finally after about fifteen minutes of searching Shirazu was thinking about calling it off until his middle finger nicked something, his thought it was another piece of glass however when he looked at his finger more closely he found that a strange sliver like needle and pricked him. He held it up for a closer look.

"Shirazu there is no need to swear" Urie said sighing shooting the Squad Leader an annoyed look but Shirazu shook his head and quickly pulled out the needle.

"This thing got into my finger" Shirazu explained and now he had Takizawa attention as well and the half-ghoul peered to have a closer look.

"I think you found what those ghouls attacked Naki and Hinami with" Seidou explained with a slight smile appearing on his face.

"That's good" Urie said nodding "It tells us that we're in the right place and we can start asking the local ghouls if they know anything"

"well then let's get started" Shirazu said before grinning his shark like grin and the trio set off to find the most street-wise and dangerous ghouls in the ward.

Xxx

Hinami awoke once again but this time to loud clanging noise which shot her awake from her drug like state. She quickly sat up and blinked to focus her eyes and she found herself surrounded by iron bars and with cages just like hers scattered around the underground room with other people huddling and shivering inside, some were crying and all of them smelt like ghouls.

Hinami looked up to the where the sound was coming from and to her surprise it was coming from a crane (indoors?). It moved along the ceiling hovering over the cages, she could here men shouting and then one shouted 'get that one!' Hinami couldn't see then men but she saw the crane move past her own cage then hover over the cage a few feet away from her. It held a mother and child.

"Now I thought I was sick" Hinami heard a voice say and she turned to Naki who had been sitting in the corner quietly, the white suit ghoul didn't look so well. The black around his eyes was much heavier than usual and it didn't help that his was skin was white as a sheet.

"Naki what…" she turned to the ghoul to ask what was going on and why he looked so ill but then she turned back to the cage from before at the sound of the child's scream. Her eyes widened and her fists clutched the bars of her cage as she watched the cage of the mother and her daughter being lifted into the air by the crane. Hinami watched in horror and panic as the child continued to wail and mother held her little girl tightly to her chest trying to calm her down her down but by the tears and trembling in voice the mother wasn't doing so well herself.

"Stop!" Hinami shouted, she tried to bend back the bars of her cage to get out but they seemed to be made on quinque steel and for some reason she couldn't pull out her kagune. Hinami struggled to break the cage as she watched the mother and daughter reach higher and higher then move along the other cages but the cries didn't get any distant, they only got louder.

Hinami tried to reach and see where the cage had landed but the other cages blocked her view.

"Don't bother girl" the voice of an old man to the cage on her left said, his clothes were torn and filthy and his hair was overgrown scraggy like silver straw "These cages are made of quinque steal and those drugs they put in you won't let you use your kagune for the rest of the day, besides those two are goners"

Hinami just stared at the man in shock, her hands fell from the bars and she clutched them to her lap watching them shake and tremble without her permission. She tried to process on what she had just witnessed, where was she? Was this some kind of auction? No, they are meant to be rare and the last one didn't go so well, so what was all this?

Xxx

"Ghouls carrying weapons, what crackpot story is that?!" One ghoul said as Shirazu, Urie and Takizawa went around questioning the local ghouls about ghoul gangs carrying weapons and showing them the needle to anyone who would bother looking. The trio watched as the ghoul who had just spoken to walked of in a huff and the Shirazu numbered that their 8th failed attempt and they were losing time.

"I don't think anyone knows anything" Urie said,

"Unless they are hiding something…" Shirazu mumbled not very pleased with the results, nearly all the ghouls they had spoken to brushed them off, say rude things to them or even try to start a fight and the group was reluctant to ask anyone else.

"Maybe we could try the Helter Skelter?" Shirazu suggested "Nekisan went there for information didn't he? Surely those people will tell us something"

"Sorry but after seeing Centipede coming out of there like a drunkard they don't really seem like very sensible people" Urie commented shaking his head "Besides we already need to pay that Chie girl off from last time and I don't fancy owing anything to anyone else"

"Fair enough" Shirazu said scratching his head "but if we don't get any info soon Hinami and Naki might be…"

"Shirazu-san, Urie-san and Takizawa-san?" a small voice of a girl spoke behind them and the trio turned to find Rin, Providers granddaughter standing there staring up at them curiously.

"Rin-chan?" Shirazu said bending down to the little girl's level "What are you doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be with your Grandfather?"

"Granddad wanted me to deliver a package to someone" The little girl explained and she turned to Urie "And he would like to thank you for getting our dinner last night, we are sorry for the trouble"

Urie's lips tightened as he stared down at the girl and clenched his fists from saying anything, did Rin even know what Urie had to go through to get that meat and did she even know what it was?

"Rin you live with the Provider don't you" Urie said "So you must know what goes on around here?" Rin nodded,

"I don't know much as Granddad but I travel around the wards a lot and I like reading his books, so if you need to know something I can try" The little girl said and Shirazu was starting to understand what Urie was getting at. He pulled out the needle from his pocket and showed it to the girl,

"Two of our friends were taken by a group of ghouls who carry weapons that shot these needles" Shirazu explained "We've asked around but the local ghoul seem reluctant to say anything, do you know anything about it?"

Rin stared at the needle for a bit before looking back up at Shirazu and nodded, her face grim and she suddenly looked too wise for her age. She looked around then spoke in a soft whisper that the three other ghouls had to bend down to listen.

"The needles have some kind of drug in them" Rin explained "you need a few of in you for it to take effect but if you have enough needles pricked in you then it will make you drowsy and you will find that neither you kagune nor any of you ghoul abilities work for a while"

"So it's like an Rc suppressant?" Urie commented but not at all surprised "But why would ghouls need to use it on other ghouls? Restricting the RC levels doesn't make for a good fight so what's the point?"

"The point is that they are not looking for a fight they are looking for profit" Rin said shaking her head "It's likely they have kidnaped your friends for that purpose"

"But what 'profit'!" Shirazu asked starting to look stressed "I don't understand!"

"I do" Seidou said abruptly and everyone turned to the half-ghoul and everyone could see the cogs in his head turning "Remember what Kaneki-kun said before we spilt off? Didn't he say that the fourteenth ward was still a popular place for Cannibalism?"

 **Note: Sorry that this was such a long wait I had a writer's block last week but I'm fixed now lol. I'm planning for the next chapter to be a big one with Hinami, Naki, Urie, Shirazu and Seidou only because I don't plan to let our characters spend any longer in the 14** **th** **ward they still need to go to the 11** **th** **ward and we need to get back on CCG and RE gang and that's when things start to pick up.**

 **Oh and some previous chapters have been spell checked and edited ;)**

 **And thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter and the new people who have followed and pressed that Fav button ;)**


	39. Takizawa Arc: Delicious Battle

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 14: Delicious Battle**

"Ok we need to turn a left here" Rin said as they moved through the narrow passage ways of the 14th ward. They were doing fine before but now, the building where getting closer and closer together and the group had to move in single file with Shirazu taking the lead with Rin perched on his shoulders, Seidou behind them and Urie taking up the rear.

"Are you sure that we can trust this girl?" Urie asked watching his back "I feel like we've been going around in circles".

"That's kinda the point" Rin said not turning to face Urie "They don't want Doves or uninvited guests accidently finding them, we should be there in minutes if we turn this left".

"I hope your right" Shirazu grumbled "We've been walking for over ten minutes"

"Well I'm ok" Rin added,

"That's because some poor guy is carrying you!" Shirazu snapped and the group headed left to the place which was said to hide the largest and most popular cannibalism ring in all of Tokyo.

Xxx

"Naki what's going on" Hinami asked as she sat next to white suited ghoul leaning her back uncomfortably against the quinque steel bars. It had only been a minute since the incident with the mother and the daughter and Hinami had not discovered anything else. The men who were talking before where now gone and her fellow prisoners refused to her answer her questions let alone look at her and for reason everything was silent.

"I don't know" Naki said shaking her head tiredly "I've seen them take a couple of cages already, they must be picked at random".

"This can't be an auction can it?" Hinami asked worriedly but Naki shook his head,

"I doubt it" He said "Auctions usually sell humans but this place smells strongly of ghouls, no…whatever this is its more dangerous than an auction and it looks like were the victims for once".

Hinami didn't say anything, she pulled her jacket tightly around her. This place was getting cold but she was sure that if she complained to her kidnappers they wouldn't put the heating up. She tried to listen to what was going on outside the room, most of the noise was coming from somewhere upstairs such as a cluster of footsteps and laughing but either the floor was far too up or Hinami was far to down because she couldn't get any more than that.

Finally the door to the room opened and Hinami couldn't help but jump and shuffle closer to get a good look at the ghouls who kidnapped her but still she could only make out their shadows and only their voices could be heard.

"Well that ended quickly" one of the men chucked who's voice reminded Hinami of that hyena from one of her old Disney movies "I'm telling you there is no pointing betting on ghouls who don't know how to fight against those who volunteered, there is just no competition"

"She was easy prey and fast to get at such short notice" One of the other men said, this one kinda sounded like a rhino…if they could speck that is. "Besides" rhino man carried on "I thought she'd put up a better fight if her child's life was on the line, of course it was disappointment".

"I'm glad that kid didn't survive though" The hyena guy spoke with a sick grin inside his voice "I mean I wasn't sure whether to laugh or clutch my head in pain as she wailed and cried as she watched her mum's head get peeled open like a potato" And the hyena man gave out a loud high pitched laugh that pierced though her ears like a cold sharp icicle and she felt sick to the bone.

She knew full well that there were evil and sick minded people in this world. Since the day the humans mercilessly slaughtered her mother before her eyes, how Kaneki was never the same after escaping Jason's torture room and how some of the people working in Aogiri where just as messed up and crazed as her brother used to be however this seemed to be on another level. These people, her kidnapers, weren't insane to the fact they didn't know what they were going. They were doing this for business and money and where prepared to use the weak to get it and what was worse was the fact they were enjoying it.

"Well never mind" The rhino man said "we need someone who can put up more of fight this time, someone with experience"

"Hey my men caught a guy wearing a white suit before who could belong to Aogiri and he was with a girl who put up a good fight against my men" The hyena guy said "Maybe they would make up for the disappointment from before"

"Yeah that's a good idea, get the crane ready" rhino man said and she could hear them moving. She turned to Naki in worry and he seemed to understand perfectly on what was going on, didn't her onii-chan warn her about cannibalism? Now she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

"Lucky kids" The old man grumbled who had spoken to Hinami before "They get to leave before even coming here, I've been waiting bored in this cage for hours!"

But Hinami didn't feel very lucky and she would happily switch places with the old man but then she heard the sound of the machine switching on and the crane started to move towards them, hovering over the cages before resting on top of hers. Then it latched itself on top of her cage and with a sudden join the cage was slowly lifted into the air. She didn't dare look down.

Once she was in the air she felt the crane move to her right and further and further away from the old man and seemed to be moving closer to the doorway towards the rhino and hyena men. She finally calmed down a bit when she felt the cage slowly lower her to the ground but she knew she couldn't get to comfortable because the figures of the two men, one skinny like a twig and one large and buff like a…rhino where coming closer to her cage. They wore black clothes from head to toe and her faces where hidden in black shapeless masks but they weren't ski masks like the ghouls who took them but more like bike helmets.

She expected the larger one to sound the rhino but the deep and gruff voice strangely enough came from the smaller bloke instead.

"They don't look like much" He said in a huff "Are you sure you got the right guys?"

"I'm sure" the large hyena man said nodding "He's just passed out because he had too much RC suppressant and I'm sure the girl will do just fine, she held back six men after all"

"I'll take your word for it" small rhino man said "Just get them in the lift, we can't keep the audience waiting much longer".

"Let us out shitheads!" Naki screamed jumping up and getting up close to the bars suddenly with all his strength back but Hinami didn't see the point, they probably won't be let out until they are ready to be cannibalized.

Naki was ignored and the large hyena guy with all his might heaved the cage onto a large trolley like device. The two ghouls inside where sent backwards, Hinami knocking into Naki as he hit the bars and swore so loudly that even a sailors ears would burn and he continued to shout all the way as the two where wheeled though the large door and away from the other prisoners into a large metal lift but there two guards didn't join them but instead they pressed a small button outside and the doors slowly began to close.

"Give us a nice show guys!" The hyena guy jeered at them.

"Don't die as quickly as the last two!" The Rhino man said with a laugh and Hinami was thankful when the lift doors finally shut in front of them.

"When I get my beautiful black nails on those two" Naki hissed but Hinami was more worried about what was to come as the lift suddenly jerked and upwards.

Xxx

Finally after many twists and turns, Shirazu, Urie, Seidou and Rin came to a stop at a small side door attached to one of the large brick buildings that no one would give a second glance at. It was narrow was made out of old but strong looking wood and no one had bothered to clean it up.

"Well this looks like the type of place a bunch of ghouls would hang around" Urie couldn't help but comment and he was right, the area might have been a factory or an old warehouse at some point because it looked deserted of people and they couldn't smell any humans whatsoever, even the humming and rolling noise of cars seemed to have faded. This place felt unnatural like they were in one of those weird spiritual dreams you rarely get.

"Well is someone going to knock?" Seidou asked breaking the silence which he wasn't liking one bit.

"Ok then" The Shirazu breathed, being the squad leader he felt that knocking on the door and doing the talking was his responsibility. So he gave the door three loud knocks and they waited. Urie put his ear near the door to hear if anyone was coming but then the door was suddenly yanked opened and Urie found himself stubbing forward and if it wasn't for Shirazu pulling him back by his jacket he would have landed in to a fat middle aged woman that remained Urie of the old dinner lady at his old Academy.

The old woman stared at the group in surprise, she wore a dinner's lady apron which had small blood drops strained on it. Her black hair was tied up in a small bun pushed back from her round but cheerful face and she smile broadly at the group.

"Why hello dears!" She said cheerfully "Are you looking to watch some good old cannibalism?"

The group didn't know what to say, this woman's sweet voice and looks didn't match the words she just said but it was Urie who thought fast on his feet.

"Err yeah" He said nodding "I hope we're not too late"

"Oh no worries dear" The woman chuckled getting all pink in the cheeks "Here we are open all day and night and you brought a little one with you as well" he looked up at the little girl who still sat on Shirazu's shoulders who stared back at the woman unsmiling.

"Aww it's good to bring little ones to these type of places" The old woman carried on cheerfully "Watching cannibalism in a safe and organized environment really helps to learn survival skills when facing Doves or fellow ghouls. It shows just how you should and should not attack when faced in a battle and it also helps the little ghouls learn how to play with their food" She gave a little chuckle at that last comment and the others couldn't help but stare at the woman nodding at her every word while forcing smiles on their faces when insides they all thought that there was something really wrong with this woman. I mean encouraging kids to watch cannibalism? They didn't know that was a thing, even in the ghoul world.

"And since you have brought a youngster with you we give our customers a 10% discount for entry".

"I don't suppose you sell Family Day Tickets do you?" Shirazu couldn't help but ask and everyone turned to him giving him a puzzled or disbelieved look, even Rin looked down on him…Literally. However the woman suddenly look delighted with her eyes wide is excitement.

"You know I should pass on that idea on to my husband" The woman said happily "He's the manger here and he's always happy to hear what advice our customers have to give"

 _What is this a business?_ Shirazu thought silently, he was only being sarcastic when he told her about the Family Day Tickets he didn't think for a second it would be taken seriously. Yes there was defiantly something wrong with this woman. 

"That will be $30 please" The woman spoke and Shirazu wasn't even sure if she heard right **(Note: Yes I'm using American Dollars since I don't understand yen, thank you)** he didn't have $30 in hand and looking at Urie's face he didn't either but they had to get in, Hinami and Naki needed help.

"Err you don't take cards do you?" Shirazu asked, again everyone looked at him and he really hoped that the woman wasn't going to say it was a good idea and that she'll suggest it to her husband.

"I have money" Seidou said and everyone's attention was away from Shirazu as the half-ghoul pulled a wallet out of his pocket and pulled out the notes and handed them to the woman. Everyone stared at Seidou, since when did the Owl carry money and where did he get it from?

"$30 all here" The woman said and she opened the door open wider for the group to enter. Shirazu had to put Rin down since the door wasn't tall enough and they all nervously climbed through the door and found themselves in a dimly lit entrance, which was very bare expect for the small lightbulb barely hanging from its wire.

The woman led them into small lift and she pressed one of the buttons and with a ding the doors slid open for the group to enter inside.

"In you get loves" The woman said beckoning them into the lift "I hope you're not scarred of them, some people don't like lifts but it's a short trip I promise you".

"Thanks" Urie said as they he, Shirazu, Rin and Seidou all entered the small box and the woman stood outside waving at them as the lift doors slowly closed shut in front of them.

"She scared me" Rin said suddenly and others said nothing, they knew precisely what she meant.

Xxx

Hinami and Naki could hear the sound of footsteps and chatter get louder and louder the further they went up. The lift continued to the rattle and jerk and Hinami was scarred that it would fall off its chains. Finally the noise was starting to sound closer and a new noise hit Hinami's ears, it was the noise of trap door siding open and it was coming from the ceiling of their lift and whole box suddenly became brighter and the two ghouls had to squint their eyes due to the unexpected light and now the noise of cheering and clapping rang in their ears as they finally stopped moving.

The pair opened their eyes and realized that the floor of the lift must have pushed them up because they were suddenly in an open space. Hinami couldn't help but gasp in shock as she found herself surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of people cheering and screaming at them while clapping their hands in excitement. They all sat round on benches looking down at them as the two ghouls stood the centre of a large colosseum sized ring with tiled white floor strained with fresh and old blood that stood out strongly against the clean colour.

Hinami felt sick again.

This remained her slightly of the ghoul restaurants that her brother and his friends used to raid but expect for high class ghouls watching them they were common if not poor ghouls. None of them were dressed up for an occasion, some were even in rags. She could also see small children sitting on their parents shoulders to get a good view or running around between the benches but sitting right on top of the audience, the person who had the best view of the stage sat a large well-dressed man who stood out against the scruffiness of the audience and Hinami wondered if this guy was the owner.

His suit was a fine satin red with a black shirt under it and he peered down at the stage with small black eyes with his grey streaked hair gelled back over his fat face.

Naki had started shouting and swearing again and two ski masked ghouls had come forward and where now unlocking the cage and as soon as the door clicked Naki pushed the doors open running over the two ski masked ghouls.

"Are you the guy in charge?!" He screamed pointing an accused finger at the well-dressed man who only just stared back smiling and clearly amused. "Don't you look down at me, do you know who I am?!" Naki continued "Every person in this room is fucking dead do you hear me?! Dead!"

However no one was taking the blond ghoul seriously, everyone laughed and pointed and Hinami could see Naki's red face turn a shade darker, his whole body was shaking as if he was having a fit. The ghoul started to run towards the audience, ready the slice them up but then to Hinami's surprise two other ski masked ghouls tacked Naki to floor and the blond ghoul screamed in rage.

It must have been the drugs that old man was going on about before, not only do they affect your kagune but also your strength or those ski masked ghoul would have been sliced up like cucumber by now. She ran out the cage ready to help Naki but with the drugs inside her she knew she was going to be no good. The ski masked ghouls threw Naki back towards Hinami and he skidded to floor by her feet.

"Are you ok?" Hinami asked helping the ghoul up but she could tell that Naki was anything but ok.

"My pride has just been hurt" Naki mumbled angrily "How dare these…these…bastards throw me around like I'm some sort of trash!" He suddenly screamed "I'm one of the white suits, this shouldn't be happening, my reputation is going down to the shit hole!"

"It's the drugs they've given us" Hinami explained "they are doing something to our ghoul abilities"

"Let us introduce our two most resent captures" The voice of an unseen male said though a microphone "Two ghouls found wandering the dark deserted alleyways of the 14th Ward, just waiting to be captured. They up a good fight against our six best men but are they now about to meet their match? Can they survive the battle with our most beloved volunteer? Allow us to present the Great Ol' Ox!"

At the mention of the name the crowd went wild and cheered as the large doors to the stage where slowly pulled open by large sausage like fingers from the inside. The large metal door creaked and shuddered against itself and the crowed was getting excited due to the suspense. Hinami knew that this was just for show however she couldn't stop her body from trembling as the door was opened wider and the dark figure of large buff man was appearing behind it.

Finally the door smashed open with an overdramatic crash. Bits of metal where thrown around, the audience screamed in fear and laughed in excitement as parts of the door was thrown towards them and Hinami could only stare as the large man had crouch to get though the newly created opening.

Hinami and even Naki had to stare in wonder at the man's size, even if Hinami stood on Naki's shoulders they wouldn't be big enough. The Great Ol' Ox towed over them with tank like muscles over his arms and chest that looked too big for his blood strained track top but his face was the scariest. His head was shaven and his large bulging blue eyes crisscrossed in a dopey way and the silly grin and the red scars down his face didn't make it any better.

The crowd cried in awe and wonder as the Great Ol' Ox flexed his muscles for audience (well more for the ladies) to see and Naki whispered to Hinami.

"If fan service is all he's good at then I don't think we have anything to worry about" And Hinami really hoped that Naki was right, they might not have the size or muscle or even the kagune but they were both fast and not stupid, yeah they could win this…

"Now there is only one rule in this game" the announcer explained "The last standing team wins and one must be cannibalized, ok? Let the game begin!"

And without warning the large ghoul leaned down and smashed his fists towards Naki and Hinami, the duo barely got out of the way. Hinami stood on the left and Naki stood on the right, they looked at each other and then nodded, they were going to be ok and were going to win. They both looked back at their opponent who was about to haul his next attacked and he was aiming at Hinami.

Though the female ghoul didn't have any of her ghoul strength or kagune she could still do the moves and she watched the massive ghoul hauled himself towards her and in the last second she jumped in the air making her opponent skid to the floor. The audience cried out in shock as the female ghoul landed making sure that the tip of her quinque heel shoes make impact with his skull.

The Great Ol' Ox screamed as the audience stared in wonder and announcer spoke though his microphone once again,

"Well that was an unexpected turn of events, the Great Ol' Ox had just received a blow in the first few seconds of the match! But will this be enough to ensure victory?" Unfortunately for Hinami it wasn't because the Great Ol' Ox had grabbed Hinami by the leg and threw her off him shouting 'Bad girl!' and she crashed into the arena's wall, just like what happened in the auction raid.

"Hinami!" Naki screamed but he knew he couldn't run to help the girl, he had to sort out this monster first. With tears of emotion in his eyes he sprinted towards him screaming and the large ghoul was picking itself up and it turned its large head towards Naki, his crisscrossed eyes staring at the approaching ghoul. The Great Ol' Ox smiled as the blond ghoul jumped into the air and aimed his fists towards the eyes. If the opponent was blinded, no matter the size, then he and Hinami would have the advantage however before his fist could make contact the Great Ol' Ox opened its large mouth wide and bit into Naki's hand.

The White Suit ghoul screamed and fell to the floor, his hand was completely severed from his body leaving a bloody stump and what was worse he knew it wouldn't heal unless he got him meat in him (due to drugs that was put in him before). The audience cheered and pointed as the Great Ol' Ox shallowed Naki's hand whole and smacked his lips, savouring the flavour.

"Tasty!" The large ghoul boomed out, his voice echoing though the hall and the audiences cheers grew even more enthusiastic. Hinami slid off the wall, feeling dizzy and disorientated. She could make out Naki's body lying on the floor and the large monstrous ghoul towering over him, grinning like a maniac. She tried to stand up but her legs and the rest of her body failed her as he crashed back down on the blood strained floor and the roars of cheers from the crowd wasn't helping either.

She watched helplessly as Naki was picked up by his leg, leaving him hanging upside down as the Great Ol' Ox held him out towards the audience, they all laughed and jeered as the large ghouls shook poor Naki up and down and side to side. Naki screamed, hissed and swore as he tried to beat the massive ghoul who was having the time of his life by entertaining the audience and treating this really strong S-rated ghoul like he was some child's play toy.

However thanks to the drugs Naki was no better than a normal human and the amount of shaking and force the Great Ol' Ox was doing to him was not helping his bleeding wrist which was gushing out with blood and then the monstrous ghoul held the blond ghoul even higher so he hovering over the Great Ol' Ox's mouth. Naki looked pale and sick and his body seemed to give up on fighting so he didn't do anything but let the blood from his unhealing hand and drip casually onto the other ghouls awaiting tongue.

Hinami knew that this was all for show or Naki would have been bitten in half right now, maybe this was a good thing. As their opponent continued to play with Naki Hinami could issue a surprise attack. She slowly stood up ignoring the pain in her mussels and took off her left shoe (the right one have thrown off somewhere) and barefoot she slowly made her way towards the Great Ol' Ox lifting the shoe high above her head and the crowd started to shout.

"Of Great Ol' Ox look behind you!"

"The girl, I thought she was dead!"

"Watch out!"

But by the time the monstrous ghoul turned his fat neck away from Naki towards Hinami she had already leaped up and the heel had met with his right eye. The Great Ol' Ox screamed and Naki was carelessly dropped onto the floor as Hinami pulled out the heel and stabbed brutally in the other eye and she showed no mercy. There was no way she was going to die in a place like this, for other ghoul's entertainment and not in a hands of a monster like this, and besides if she was ever to die she'd rather her brother be the last person she would ever see.

Then she felt the monster's large sweaty hands tighten around his stomach, Hinami cried out but she didn't waver as she pulled out the heel and the quinque steal landed smash down onto his bald head. The spectators and her opponent screamed and he tightened his grip around Hinami's stomach. She found her struggling for breath as she felt her lungs and bones crushing and her heart beat racing and she was sure she heard one of her ribs crack.

She aimed for his head again feeling the blood splat on her face and hands. She knew she must of looked like a monster but for now she didn't care, she was doing this for Naki, her brother and the mother and daughter who she barely knew who died in this arena. However her vision was blacking and her head was thumping due to lack of oxygen, she kept hitting at the ghouls head but he didn't waver from squishing Hinami's chest and Hinami wasn't even sure if she was making contact anymore, it was the squashing sound and the blood splatter that told her when she aimed.

The rest of her vision was in a blood red.

Suddenly everything around her grew quite. The audience who she didn't realise who were shouting had finally shut up in a sudden silence and Hinami gasped out a large breath has the hands where suddenly off her and her grip on her shoe loosened and she felt herself falling backwards.

"This barbarity ends now!" She heard a voice, which sounded much like Urie, and finally landing into someone's welcoming arms.

Xxx

Once Shirazu, Urie, Seidou and Rin stepped out of the lift and into a colosseum like building they were met with a crazy amount of ghouls sitting on the edge of their seats and leaning over each other to have a good look what was happening on the stage.

"Well this looks interesting" Urie making his way towards the crowd with Shirazu, Seidou and Rin following as they pushed their way through the crowd. Some people gladly let them pass while other ghouls gave them dirty looks but once they got to the front they were greeted with a terrifying sight. Naki was laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood while Hinami was being strangled by overly large ghoul as Hinami stabbed him with the heel of her shoe and it seemed to be very effective however they knew it wouldn't last forever.

Without warning Seidou and Urie where the first to jump from the benches and onto the stage, the audience gasped as Urie was the first to open his case and pull out his quinque and stabbed it through the large ghouls back. That's when everything was silent. Hinami fell from the ghouls grasp but luckily Seidou was there to catch her before she could fall to the ground.

Shirazu also leapt down but not before telling Rin to stay back as he ran to help Naki.

"This barbarity ends now!" Urie boomed out turning the man who had sitting in his large chair watching the scene with curiosity. Urie pulled his quinque out of the ghoul and pushed him to the ground so he didn't fall on Seidou or Hinami; next Urie pointed his weapon towards the owner.

"You're in charge right?!" Urie asked "Come down here a face me if you don't want your business to collapse!" The audience around him booed and hissed at the Quinx but Urie ignored them and continued staring at the owner who only looked back with interest and them smiled.

"I think there was been a little miss understanding" The rich man said holding his arms out and shaking his head "This is only meant to be a little game that's all, why would you ruin the fun when a Dove like you would be happy to see ghouls kill each other"

"I'm no Dove!" Urie shouted "You have been drugging and kidnapping fellow ghouls and forcing them to fight to the death for entertainment, if this was meant to be some game then it's gone too far, I'm taking my friends back with me or I will personally cut you down myself!"

"I'm sorry that's how you feel" The owner said standing up from his seat "However you have broken the rules of the game, it was these two weak ghouls" He gestured to Naki and Hinami "who were meant to defeat the Great Ol' Ox not you, men!" He shouted and bunch of ski masked ghouls came running into the arena "Kill these pests!"

The audience once again screamed in excitement, hands where clapping and bets where being placed. The ski-masked ghouls turned towards the group and brought out there kagune. Urie turned to Shirazu and Seidou.

"Get those two out of here!" Urie ordered pointing to Naki and Hinami who were in a bad way.

"Don't be an idiot! I can't leave you here!" Shirazu screamed angrily but Urie silenced him.

"You're meant to be squad leader Shirazu!" Urie screamed back "Your priority is getting as many of group out alive as you can even if that means making a couple of sacrifices!"

"Urie…" Shirazu said looking down sadly "What happened with you and Eto?" But he didn't get his answer because one of the Ski-masked ghouls with a Ukaku launched at Urie who blocked it with his quinque.

"GO!" Urie shouted back "I'll catch you up!" Shirazu had no choice, he nodded at Seidou and carrying Naki over his shoulder and with Seidou carrying the passed out Hinami in his arms they made their way towards a large hole with doors smashed either side of it, this must have been where the Great Ol' whatisname came out of.

Once he was sure his friends were out the way Urie pushed the ghoul back and stabbed him in the gut. Five other ghouls made their way towards him and he mercifully sliced then in half in one simple movement, this was just easy but he didn't noticed that six other ski-masked ghouls had come up behind him. Urie quickly spun to meet them with his quinque but it was a Bikaku ghoul's kagune and the quinque made no impact.

"Shit" Urie swore. He wasn't using his full strength since the last five have been so easy to deal with and ghouls who had stood behind the bikaku ghoul shot up and aimed their rinkaku and koukaku kagune towards Urie and shot down at him. Urie his barely bodged missing them by a hair. But then he was attacked from the behind again and once again he just barely missed.

He needed to get faster.

Xxx

Shirazu and Seidou ran as fast as they could down the large corridor soon enough Shirazu stopped and Seidou stopped with him and looked back at the squad leader.

"Takizawa we need to stop, Naki's hand won't stop bleeding" Shirazu said in panic as he put the blond ghoul down and he turned back to Seidou "I feel irresponsible to be asking this but I want you to go back and help Urie".

"But Urie said…" Seidou started.

"I'm the squad leader now, not him!" Shirazu shouted "I want to make sure Naki and Hinami get out safely however you're stronger, you can help Urie fight them off"

"But I can't…"

"Yes you can, you just don't remember!" Shirazu shouted and then sighed "I'm not telling you to risk your life but get Urie out of there and Rin too if you can" Takizawa couldn't help but nodded.

"But what about if those ski-masked ghouls come after you?" He asked, was Shirazu strong enough to fight on his own while protecting two people?

"Don't worry about me, just come back with Urie safely!" Seidou still looked worried but he carefully put Hinami down leaning her against the wall and turned back to Shirazu. Seidou was scared but the Squad Leader had a point, he couldn't leave Urie he was important to the squad and maybe if he had stayed with Hinami that time and not of runaway then maybe they wouldn't be in this situation.

"I'll be back" Seidou promised before running back down the corridor leaving Shirazu alone to treat Naki and Hinami.

Xxx

Urie was not having a good time. He was now forced to fight with his kagune which held the most power. The ghouls were getting stronger and stronger and were a lot faster and the problem was that Urie was fighting all four types of kagune which wasn't useful when you only had a koukaku.

At the moment Urie was playing defence, he kept looking for places which would help his escape and apart from the one his group went though there was nowhere he could run too and with the injured Naki and Hinami he doubted that his friends were out of the building yet and he didn't want to lead the ski-mask men too them so for now he just had to keep fighting.

"You're brave and an excellent fighter" The Owner called out to Urie above the noise of the crowd "However your friends have left you and my men will overwhelm you soon enough!" The crowd cheered at his words but hit was cut shot and even Urie was shocked when he felt a cool sudden breeze brush past him and caught a shot of black and white just out of the corner of his eyes then everyone's attention was on the Owner or more like the predicament he was in.

Urie was shocked to see the Owner being held by his fat neck by no other than Seidou Takizawa. The half-ghoul looked ready to snap the Owners neck and everyone gasped in fear and astonishment. Well this must have been the most entertaining show the audience have ever had.

"D-don't move!" Seidou shouted though his voice had a stammer in it and though his brave facade he looked frightened as his bit his lip and his wide drown eyes scanned everyone in the crowd and the ghouls on stage. "If you do I-I will k-kill him!"

The ski-masked ghouls looked conflicted, their orders where to attack Urie but they were also hired to protect their master.

"You idiots!" The Owner bellowed "This guy is scared shitless he won't hurt me!" Urie was worried that he was right. Though Seidou used to be deranged killer over four months ago he had forgotten his sins and now Urie didn't think the Owl had it in him in fact he looked even more fearful than he did before because he knew that the Owner was right until something happened, help came from an unlikely source and after this Seidou and Urie swore to themselves never to underestimate little girls again.

They had thought Rin was still in the audience and while the fighting was going on the little girl had weaved her way through the excited audience and snuck towards the Owners chair and had been hiding behind it waiting for the right time to strike and now was the time.

"Takizawa-san move!" She shouted in a voice that sounded demanding for the usually quite and shy girl but he half-ghoul moved just in time for a large koukaku kagune which had an unhealthy green and brown colouring to slice though the Owners head.

The audience screamed in fright and one voice in particular was the loudest, it was the woman who had greeted Seidou and Rin and the QS squad into the building and she screamed…

"MY DARLING!" But her cries went ignored by Rin who sniffed the blood and gushed out from his head.

"Human" She confirmed, the person who planned all this had been a human.

Everyone in the audience was now running and scrambling on top of each other in fear, trying to leave the building. Even the ski-masked ghouls who had been attacking Urie now looked confused and frightened. No longer Urie was the main problem, their master was dead so where they now free?

Urie saw this as the chance to escape and beckoned Rin and Seidou down onto the stage,

"Quick this our chance!" He called out and Rin put her kagune away and climbed on Seidou shoulders the two jumped from the Owners high hair and landed down next to Urie and the group started running.

Xxx

Kaneki was no stranger to nightmares that left him feeling confused and disorientated and this was one of them. Although it wasn't clear he was tormented by visions of his friends murdered, Shirazu laying pale and limp like a rag doll in a sea of his own blood. Saiko being attacked by her own kagune, the caterpillar like structure suffocating her he ran to help her, he tried to pull it off but his hands kept missing or went straight though her body.

He also had lone visions of Hinami sitting alone in a room surrounded by dark grey walls looking miserable as if she had lost the will to live he tried to reach for her instead but visions of Urie covered in blood and victims under his feet kept blocking his path. But one of the most terrifying visions he had was the ones of Mutsuki, flashes the eyepatch Quinx tied up in plan wooded chair with chains around his ankles and wrists he cried and sobbed in a pathetic mess, his hair slowly turning white.

But what made this all worse was the earthquake like rumbling, he kept feeling his body vibrate and shouting of familiar voices around him

" _What's going on?!"_

" _We need to get out of here!"_

" _Just put Naki and Hinami-chan in back with Nekisan!"_

And visions, words, voices and blood continued to go around and around in his head like a cruel merry-a-go-round, new images of his mother looking down at him with a face opposite to the kind hearted woman he remembered. It was a face twisted of frustration and anger but that can't be right? Can it? But still the images kept repeating until he felt something jap him in the shoulder, he tried to shake it off but the feeling just kept going and going until he found himself jointed awake breathing in big gulps of air as if his lift depended on it and he found himself in the back seat of their 8 seater car and now he knew where that vibrating feeling was coming from.

Everyone (apart from Urie who was now driving) was staring at him worryingly and full on concern. Hinami sat closest to him, she seemed to be the one who woke him up. She looked like she had tried to clean herself up but the paleness in her face and strains and blood on her clothes gave away that she was not ok however Naki looked worse, he seemed have changed clothes and was wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans that looked strange on the blond ghoul.

Shirazu's clothes were also covered in blood as were Seidou's but they looked uninjured and the only two who looked well was Mutsuki and Saiko. For a spilt single second while he was staring at his group he had a horrible thought that the dreams he had really happened but everyone was alive and Hinami was here with him and his mother was still dead.

"I'm sorry" Hinami said sadly "I wanted to let you sleep but you were having a nightmare and kept tossing and turning we couldn't just leave you like that"

"What happened?" Kaneki asked his head was banging and everything sounded too loud and he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Stop the car!" He demanded suddenly before anyone could answer his question. Urie quickly parked the car at the side of the road and without caring if anyone would recognise him he threw open the door and jumped out quickly before throwing up all over the path.

Once his stomach had calmed down he jumped back into the car everyone biting their lips in worry.

"Sorry about that" Kaneki said calmly "You can drive now and while that is happening you can tell me what the hell has been going on"

 **Note: Wow this is must be the longest chapter so far and probably the most violent but on a serious note I am considering rating this story M since it seems to be getting gorier and more disturbing, what do you guys think?**

 **This chapter was written to develop characters like Hinami, Seidou and Naki and show some development in Urie and also to show that the team don't need Kaneki all the time.**

 **Also this fanfic has reached 160 Reviews, 91 favs and 110 followers I'd say that's an achievement and once this fanfic is done I have a large thank you chapter to write! thank you all so much so carry on with me so far and we are almost halfway through the Takizawa Arc. Next the Rosewald Arc the final I can't believe its come this far! Again thank you!**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	40. Takizawa Arc: 11th Ward

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 15: 11** **th** **Ward**

Back in the first ward Hide and Chie where ready to continue on their investigation. The only one who wasn't motivated was Kanae Von Rosewald. The German ghoul would like nothing better but to go back to the Tsukiyama house and spend time with his beloved master Shuu but it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon. It was Shuu that sent him on this mission in the first place so he was to spend the day with the two humans as the only ghoul in the group needed to go back to her café for her afternoon shift. Kanae sighed in defeat and would have to work hard tonight to convince his master Shuu to come up with a different plan.

Right now he was with the blond human, Nagachika hiding at the back of the CCG's main building with the smell of bins, humans and rain clouding his sense of smell as they hid under the bushes that must have been planted in the effort to make the back look a bit nice despite the rotting food and cardboard that was dumped here. It was disgusting and the human wasn't helping.

In the past hour and a half they had been wandering around the CCG building as distantly as possible to get a layout of the building until they finally settled with watching the back since it was door most used besides the front however the only people who had come though it was the cleaners and café staff putting out bins and some men to take away the trash but that was it. No investigators, Arthur Reed or anyone of importance and why would they?! This place was dumping ground. The human insisted on staying and hiding himself under this bush watching the back door while Chie took the front.

They had been sitting like this for a while and Kanae was almost glad when he heard his phone vibrate in his pocket. Maybe it was Chie telling them she had found something or maybe it was his master Shuu begging him home but no, it was an unrecognised number.

"Hey" Hide said leaning over Kanae's shoulder to get a good look at the phone "I think that is Touka-chans number" Kanae gently pushed the human off his shoulder and answered the phone.

"Hello" Kanae answered and wasn't surprised to hear the familiar voice of Touka speck though the phone.

"Oh good you picked up" She said happily "sorry that this all sudden Tsukiyama gave me your number" Master Shuu? Well he supposed having the waitress ghoul have his number was ok then "Can you give me to Hide please, his phone doesn't seem to be answering"

Kanae shot the human a dark look before saying 'ok' to Touka as passed the Hide the phone, making a mental note to clean his phone once he got home.

"Yo Touka is everything ok?" Hide asked and with his good ghoul hearing Kanae hear what was being said on the other end.

"Oh everything is fine, I just want you to know that we have hired a couple of new staff members"

"Oh that was quick" Hide asked pleasantly surprised "Ghouls?"

"No they are human" Touka said "I'm going to give then a trial tomorrow"

"Are you it's a good idea to hire a couple of humans?" Hide couldn't help ask, café RE was run by ghouls after all and was made to help weaker ghouls in need and he and Yuriko where the only humans who knew about this.

"It will be fine" Touka said relaxed "They said they were students looking to put in a couple of hours in during the weekday, they won't discover anything"

"Well it's your shop" Hide couldn't help but say, Kanae could tell by his face that the blond human didn't like the idea.

"We will talk about it later" The female ghoul added "I just wanted you to be first to know"

"Thanks Touka-chan" Hide said before hanging up the phone and gave it back with a sigh and Kanae couldn't help but take a slight bit of pleasure at the human's distress.

"I don't know what you are upset about?" The German ghoul added with a slight smile "Isn't it a good thing she's hiring humans? Less chance you will get eaten"

"That's not what I'm worried about" The human mumbled getting back in crouching position "I just don't want any innocent people getting involved or knowing that RE in made to help ghouls"

"Yeah that could be a problem" Kanae smirked but Hide ignored him, he didn't care what Kanae thought, he didn't trust the servant at all and thought of him as a snob who wouldn't be here if he wasn't sucking up to Tsukiyama. He carried on watching the door with a feeling in his gut telling him that something important or a clue was going to come out of that door and his gut had never been wrong before.

Xxx

"Well thank you Mado-san, this information will be useful" Ali said smiling as she finished skimming though Mado's file on Ken Kaneki "It would be useful if you permit me to refer back to this file in the future?"

"Be my guest" Mado said smiling back, the two women seemed to be getting on quite well and Arthur and his friend Oli watched grinning from the side lines. "So when will you start investigating?"

"Tomorrow" Ali confirmed "I've let Daniel and Adrianne wonder around however I will need to call them back since we have much to discuss and we need to settle in our new house, I've requested to be across the road from Arthur"

"Seriously?" Arthur face palmed "If you are worried that ghoul is going to sneak into my house again…"

"Oh no no" Ali said shaking her head "I just want to keep an eye on you" No one noticed Akira's eyes cross slightly at that as she watched Ali move from her seat and beckoned to her brother.

"Come on Oli we need to group with the others" Oli sighed in annoyance at the thought of standing up but he did so anyway and followed his sister out but not without a cheerful goodbye and Akira knew she hadn't seen the last of them.

"So what do you think of them?" Arthur asked and Akira sighed tiredly.

"I suppose I could get along with them despite our different practices" She answered "However why do they have to use the back door? What's wrong with the front?"

Arthur shrugged and Akira knew that the Brit was hiding something.

Xxx

Ali and Oli walked quickly and swiftly though the white and grey corridors of the CCG advoiding the confused and sceptical looks of the CCG investigators.

"This place is disgusting" Ali couldn't help but mummer under breathe so only Oli could hear her and he nodded in agreement, he place reeked if nothing but humans and quinque.

"It could be worse" Oli sighed "At least that Mado woman seemed nice, you two seemed to be getting along"

"A bet if she knew the truth she wouldn't be so friendly" Ali mumbled glumly just wanting to get out the building and trying to remember the directions the investigators told her to take when leaving the building. Oli said nothing as they finally reached the back door and he pulled out the key.

"Cheer up sis" Oli said smiling "at least they thought about our needs, I mean that was nice of them"

However when Oli unlocked the door any smile that was going to appear on Ali's face was immediately gone when the stench of rotting food hit her noise.

"Aww!" The woman cried out in disgust "Seriously?! Washuu's done this on purpose!" And who could blame her for being angry when she found out she had to enter and leave the building though garbage bins full of wasted food and materials that could be recycled.

"Come on" Oli said holding his own nose to keep out the smell "We will complain tomorrow" And the two black jacket figures left unknown that they were being watched by two men hiding in the bushes.

Xxx

Kaneki and the gang were nearing the 11th ward and the car was shallowed in a deep depressed silence as they tried to process the memories of what happened in 14th ward which was now starting to feel like a really hectic dream and it was wonder that they all made it back safely without Kaneki's assistance. The Centipede ghoul felt ashamed of himself, if he hadn't gotten so drunk with the Clowns then maybe Naki wouldn't be so ill, Urie and Seidou wouldn't have had to battle all those ghouls, Shirazu wouldn't have gone though that fear of getting the injured away and Hinami wouldn't have had to go through all that horror.

Kaneki had been watching the girl from the corner of his eyes, she looked pale and the sun now appearing behind the dark rain clouds made her look almost ghost like and even though the blood had been cleaned off something in her eyes looked distant as she stared out of the blackened window.

No one in the car seemed to blame or be angry with Kaneki but he knew once they got to the 11th ward he was going to have to get some meat so Naki and Hinami could get their strength back and make it right by being a good leader in the 11th ward.

"I hope Rin will be ok" Shirazu suddenly said breaking the silence, the little girl who had saved the day spilt off from the group as soon as they helped Naki and Hinami in the car, probably gone back to her granddad.

"We will have to pay a visit to say thank you" Kaneki said and it was agreed.

They didn't stop the car until they had been driving for ten minutes after entering the 11th ward and already Kaneki didn't like what he was seeing. The ward almost looked war torn; it remained Kaneki of a ghost town with it deserted buildings left to rot and graffiti sprayed all over the walls. He had spotted a few people, probably ghouls, walking past staring at their car but it was only a couple of people. It seemed that the 11th ward had lost it popularity for both humans and ghouls since Aogiri took control and now five years later those two species would be right to stay away from it because now Aogiri was returning.

They stopped in front of a large cluster of building and Kaneki couldn't help but shiver at the sight, he never thought that he would come back here again. Aogiri's 11th Ward base was made up of 8 small block buildings, one larger room and of course one small tower like structure behind the fifth building which used to be Yamori's 'play room' and even from a side angle Kaneki could tell that these buildings had seen better days.

There was no glass in the windows what so ever, they must have been smashed in the 11th ward raid, the concrete and metal walls where now scratched and dented with kagune marks or quinque bullets. Old scraps of packaging and personal items of Aogiri ghouls long dead scatted themselves across the grounds. The building did indeed look a sorry sight.

The group lifted themselves out of the car none too happy to here.

"Can I sleep in the car?" Saiko commented and no one could really counter that.

"Come on" Kaneki said "Let's go and find Alethea, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can relax".

However they would have to wait a while for their 'relax time' because finding Alethea was harder than they thought. Naki was the only person in the group who knew his way around the place however he was ill and they had no idea who was living here now or what had become of the place so the group stayed stuck together as they searched each of the eight small buildings. Kaneki recognised a few of them such as the place he, Banjou and his friends were locked up and the place where he had to pull the bones from human meat. Once they got to building 5 he tried not to look at the small tower which stood behind it, once the others had pointed it out he told them to ignore it and moved on.

Though it would be like some cruel joke for Alethea to be waiting in that that very torture room but luckily they didn't need to go there…

"I thought Eto said there were ghouls living here?" Mutsuki commented who had mostly been quite for the whole trip and Kaneki couldn't help but noticed that he was right, they hadn't seen anyone since coming here even though Eto said differently. Don't they know someone's here?

"What about that big building" Saiko said pointing to the Grand Hall just up ahead and the group nodded, it was possible that Alethea and the other ghouls there were residing here.

Once the group got to the door of the Grand Hall everyone glanced nervously at each other, they didn't need Hinami to tell them that there was movement and the sound of harsh whispering inside. Placing his hand on the door it was Kaneki who took it upon himself to open the door to the Great Hall and wasn't surprised to see probably about thirty to forty ghouls resting on benches or messing about on the stage. Kaneki was surprised to find a mix of men of woman from the elderly to a couple of toddlers in dirty or ragged clothing. There were also plenty of teenagers and middle-aged woman and men chattering endlessly or day dreaming but they all looked up at the new comers but they didn't seem surprised by the fact a large amount of strangers had entered, in fact it was almost like they were expecting them.

"Kaneki!" A familiar voice shouted as soon as the whole group had stepped in, they all turned to the bottom of the stage where Alethea was sitting with a group of young teens. The young blond ghoul got up from the floor leaving the kids to go and greet the newcomers.

"Guys your later than I thought you would be" The blond said once she had reached them "How was your journey?" No one said anything straight away but they all just nodded and mumbled their yes's, all of them wanting to get the memory of the past couple of hours out of their heads as soon as possible.

"Oh good" Alethea clapped not noticing the tension and uncertainly of the group "Luckily the situation isn't has bad as me or Eto predicted, neither anyone who lives here has much fighting ability and won't mind if we do our business here as long as it doesn't disturbed their peace"

Kaneki pulled Alethea close and whispered in her ear

"Do they know Eto's planning to take back this place?" he asked and Alethea pulled away straight faced.

"No they don't" She answered "And they don't need to know yet, the important thing right now is that we get settled in and make they get used to use. We also still have an investigation to do so until Eto is done what she wants to do she'll send others to help us"

"What is Eto doing?" Kaneki asked but Alethea hushed him and turned back to their fellow ghouls who were now looking at the group in apprehension.

"I'm sure you recognise some of the faces of my friends" Alethea spoke out "They are wanted by the CCG and are on the run from Aogiri, please treat us just like anyone else and we will get on just fine" Most of the ghouls just shrugged not bothered by newcomers however most looked fearful at having double SS ghouls in their hideout but they said nothing and Alethea beckoned the group out of the hall.

"I think we have a lot to talk about" Alethea said once she closed the door of hall "Come, we are in building eight"

Xxx

Alethea lead the group to building eight which was the closest to the Grand Hall and next to the sea, to Saiko's delight. The group stopped at the front door of their new home, even though the building looked weather and battle worn Kaneki crossed his fingers in hope that maybe the locals have tidied the inside up a bit but he had the feelings he was going to be so wrong.

"The ghouls here don't tend to sleep in one place" Alethea explained turning to towards them "They tend to move around however I manged to secure this one building for the nine of us"

"Nine people are going to fit in that?" Naki commented in disbelieve, the blond ghoul had been strangely quiet for a while that most of the group forgot he was there.

"It's only until we secure somewhere else" Alethea reassured twisting the door knob "Trust me, this building is the cleanest I could find" And when Alethea opened the door Kaneki and everyone else was disappointed but not surprised to find a large empty room with walls and the floor painted in a dull dirty green that matched the mouldy grassy smell of damp and decay. Hinami had to step back a bit holding her nose in disgust and so did a couple of others there were also a pile of sleeping bags on the floor.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad…" Alethea smiled but her happy voice and sweet smile turned out a little forced, it was bad…very bad.

"Is that a dead rat over there?" Mutsuki asked pointing shakily to the far left corner while holding his nose. Everyone turned to where Mutsuki was pointing and they saw a black fluffy thing hiding in the corner with flies buzzing around it.

"It could be a pile of rubbish?" Kaneki suggested, but he knew the smell of rotting fleshing from anywhere and no one else was convinced.

"Are you sure this is the cleanest building?" Urie asked turning to Alethea who was shifting awkwardly, not liking where this was going.

"Unfortunately" She nodded sadly "I supposed we don't have to sleep in the old base…There are many deserted buildings nearby we could stay in?"

"That sounds like a good idea" Kaneki said nodding and the two shut the door to building eight and hurried out of the base where the car was waiting for them to find a new place to stay in…It looked like the residence of the 11th ward base could keep their home. For now.

Xxx

It was nearing dinner time and Hide was making his way back to café Re. Chie had decided that she will stay in her hotel room for another night before leaving tomorrow to go back to wherever she came from. Kanae was all too glad to drive back to the Tsukiyama household leaving Hide alone to get the bus back to the fifth ward.

Hide was getting sick of buses and was happy once he stepped into the calming atmosphere of Re. Most of the customers had left and Touka was helping Yomo clean the place up before the shop closed in a couple of hours. Touka smiled when she noticed that Hide had walked in.

"Hi Hide, any success?" she asked and Yomo stopped cleaning to listen.

"Yeah accurately" Hide said looking around nervously at the customers, there was an old man sipping on his coffee, two woman chatting among themselves and a lone young man drinking his own coffee.

"Don't worry there's only ghouls here" Touka said waving them off and Hide felt himself strangely relax.

"Well me and Kanae where hiding behind some bushes at the back of the CCG main office building" Hide explained digging into jacket pocket for his phone "And some strange looking people came out of the building" Hide pulled out his phone and showed Touka and Yomo the picture he had taken of the two black jacket people both having a complete look of disgust on their faces. Some of the customers in the café had now stopped drinking their coffee and looked over at Hide's phone

"They were saying about Washuu having done something on purpose and that they were going to complain about something" Hide explained "It sounded like they were talking about the back entrance"

"Then why can't they go through the front entrance?" Touka asked.

"Or more the question is who are they?" Yomo said suddenly specking for the first time "They don't look like Doves however they don't look like civilians either"

"They kinda remind me of those special spy movie heroes" Touka commented "Maybe send the picture to Tsukiyama? He's been doing a lot of research so he might have some guesses on who these people are" Touka suggested and Hide nodded.

"I was about to do that" Hide said sending the picture to Shuu then he heard the bell ring and Yoriko came ran through the door towards them looking quite out of breath and red in the face and Hide couldn't help but think _Great what had she seen on the news this time?_

"You wouldn't believe what I've heard from my boss!" Yoriko said gasping as he reached the counter "He was in the 14th ward making business deals and suddenly a whole bunch of people came running out of nowhere, he thought some even had kagunan!" Everyone interested was now on Yoriko and everyone stared at her in apprehension.

"In the 14th ward?" Touka gasped, that's where Uta and most of those clowns lived, this couldn't be anything to do with them could it? Usually ghouls are carful around that area and for them to suddenly bust out randomly in front of humans in daylight.

"No one was attacked as far as we know" Yoriko explained "They just suddenly appeared from the alleyways and onto the streets all panicked and frightened, like they were running from something".

"Why do I get feeling we should go to the 14th ward and check this out?" Touka asked and everyone nodded.

"Best not go until tomorrow" Yoriko commented shaking her head "CCG would be down there already"

"And it looks like I have other plans for tomorrow" Hide said looking down at his phone "Tsukiyama has invited me to his place and is going to pick me up tomorrow morning".

"Seriously?!" Touka gasped, this day was just getting weirder and weirder "I've know that Gourmet bastard for years and not once have I been invited to his house".

"Do you know where he lives?" Hide asked, where the Gourmet ghoul lived was a question Hide had never bothered asking or even thought about.

"He lives with his family in some big estate in 21st ward" Touka explained scratching the side of her face in thought "His family are mega rich and I'm sure if you looked it up you will find the address"

"I think someone should come with you" Yomo said sternly crossing his arms with a scowl on his face "He may care about Kaneki but you can't trust him".

"Your right" Touka nodded "I'll come with you but I need to train the new workers, you should bring your quinque just in case".

"And I'm off tomorrow" Yoriko said "I'll come with you if you like, I might not be much good but…."

"It's ok I could be with some company, I will just warn Tsukiyama then" Hide laughed nervously, Touka didn't look to happy but she didn't say anything. Hide wondering why Tsukiyama was suddenly inviting him to his house of all places, what could be so important?

Xxx

When Ali and Oli found there new house in the 2nd ward right across the road from Arthur, Adrianne and Daniel had already settled down on the sofa in the living room. Their belongings where already upstairs and the two students were watching some weird Japanese advert on the TV. Adrianne was the first to look from the TV and smiled broadly at her teachers.

"Hey guys! How did it go?" She asked and Ali sighed in annoyance so Oli answered.

"It was ok until we found out the back door is a place for humans to dump their wasted food" He answered "We think Washuu did it on purpose but don't worry we are going to complain tomorrow"

"That's good" Adrianne smiled serenely and nodded only then did Daniel look up.

"The way people see ghouls and the amount of knowledge they have in this place is pretty twisted" Daniel commented and Ali nodded.

"I agree" She said "Did you do as I said?" And the pair of students nodded eagerly.

"She wants to see us tomorrow morning for training" Daniel confirmed pushing up his glassed from his nose "Things are going as we thought".

"Nice" Ali nodded forcing a smile "The sooner we find Ken Kaneki the sooner we can go home"

 **Note: Sorry that this chapter was so boring, I just wanted to wrap up what's been going on and start the next chapter on a new day. I think we are halfway in this arc and things are going to move on quite quickly from here on out.**

 **In the next chapter Hide and Yoriko meet the Tsukiyama family, Naki and Seidou go on a little adventure and Alethea and the group come up with a plan to investigate the CCG.**

 **I would to thank PhantomxWolf, codename00guest, nissangtrlover2569, and Haruto Arima for reviewing on the last chapter and I would like to thank the new people who have followed the story ;)**


	41. Takizawa Arc: Making Promises

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 16: Making Promises**

The next day Kaneki had woken up early while the bright orange sun was just beginning to rise. Surprisingly Kaneki slept rather well, the group had found an abandoned supermarket across the road from the 11th ward base and Althea found some sort of black market that sold stolen sleeping bags at a good price including meat for Naki and Hinami. Their belongings were still locked up in the car until they found a more 'suitable' home.

Kaneki's back hurt from sleeping on the floor but he manged to crawl out of his sleeping bag and creep around his sleeping friends to the front door where he was happy to breath in that fresh morning sea air. He took a deep breath as the door gently closed behind him, he could hear the birds calling out to each other and sound of the sea waves crashing into each other, it was a shame there wasn't much to look at in terms of scenery. Maybe if they put a fairground up, some hotels and turn it into some holiday resort then the place would be rather nice but for now Kaneki walked through the old worn out buildings and lets his feet crunch on the broken pavement as he made his way towards the 11th ward base.

He knew that ghouls who lived there would be fast asleep so he made his way thought the base without trouble which was fine by him; he needed to be alone for this. He was going to visit Jason's playroom, his torture chamber.

Kaneki now stood outside of the tower now feeling hesitant, he tried not to look at the tower yesterday but now as it towered over him with the sea wind rustling though his ears and the seagulls flying over him he suddenly felt a wave of apprehension and nostalgia but to his surprise he wasn't scared nor felted panicked…. he just felt sad.

He wondered if everything was just how he left it all those years ago. Was the torture chair and instruments still in there or had the CCG took them away or where the ghouls now living here using them for more practical uses? Suddenly he felt a warm pair of gentle arms hold his around his waist, he didn't need to turn to see who it was, he was just surprised that the young woman had manged to follow him without him realising it…He must have been really out of it.

"Hinami…did I wake you up?" Kaneki asked the girl not turning to face her but kept his eyes on the door of the tower just imagining himself turning the handle and climbing up those stairs.

"No" The girl said shaking her head in his back "I just couldn't sleep well last night".

"Is it about what happened yesterday?" He asked, going by the story the poor girl must have had a terrible time probably worse of what happened in the auction raid.

"Probably" The girl said "I can't get that large man out of my head…How he tortured Naki in front of all those people and how I kept stabbing him in the head…" Kaneki felt the girl shiver slightly so he turned his back on the tower towards Hinami and pulled her close to his chest.

"Nothing like that will happen again" Kaneki promised "You have friends who can protect you…"

"But you can't promise something like that" Hinami said looking up at her brother pulling away from the hug "I was able to put up a good fight but it wasn't enough to save myself and Naki, I don't want other people to come a save me, I want to be one doing the saving!" Kaneki put a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Your right…I can't promise something like that…" He said with a sad smile on his face "We can carry on with your lessons if you wish but just promise me you won't go running into danger" Hinami smiled and nodded.

"I promise"

Xxx

Hide didn't sleep well last night. He had been awake since five o clock in the morning, even though Tsukiyama wouldn't be picking him up until ten. The blond human had that dream again, even before Kaneki was taken by Aogiri he had this dream every now and again of a memory he wanted to put aside but no matter how many times he examined his maps, read though his pointless notes and documents he just kept finding himself staring into space thinking of the metal walls and its endless corridors with Kaneki lying eyeless in the sewer waters with Arima looking down at him coldly.

By half eight he knew it was time to shower and have his breakfast.

Touka had been kind enough to make Hide toast and eggs as he ate it slowly and tiredly, the female ghoul watched him with concern and bit her lip back for specking the words she so wanted to say. Hide was looking pale and those bags under his eyes weren't getting better but she knew the human wouldn't rest, not today.

By quarter to ten Hide was dressed in a smart casual jacket, his best jeans and cleanest trainers. Thinking what he was going to wear to the Tsukiyama house had been a challenge in his tired state of mind. He wanted to look his best but not to formal either and it seemed that Yoriko had the same idea. When she entered Re she was wearing tight bright blue jeans and a lovely bright top decorated with large flowers. Not the type of top she would wear at the bakery.

"I'm not too early am I?" She asked as Hide and Touka stood at the counter waiting for the Tsukiyama car to pick them up. Hide smiled and shook his head.

"No worries, we have another ten minutes" He said smiling at the woman but then looked at her in concern "you don't need to come you know? It could be dangerous"

"I'm not worried" Yoriko said shrugged "Tsukiyama doesn't seem like a bad guy and he seems just as worried about Kaneki as you guys are…Lets just give him a chance"

"Yeah" Touka nodded half-heartily thought Hide knew that Yoriko was right, there was nothing the grain from Tsukiyama killing them however old habits die hard and so do grudges and he couldn't blame Touka for being the most concerned since she knew the Gourmet ghoul longer than he did.

"Just remember" Touka started "Shuu Tsukiyama might have changed but his family still support ghoul restaurants and are not pushover when it comes to battles, do you have your quinque?" She asked turning to Hide who pat the inside of his jacket.

"In here" He said then turned to Yoriko "But how would Yoriko protect herself if anything happens?"

"Here" Yomo had come up towards her holding a small leather pouch, he passed it to the girl who took it in careful hands and Touka couldn't help but smile as she explained.

"We should of gave you this months ago" The female ghoul said "but in there is a quinque knife, it was dropped by Mutsuki, one of Kaneki's students, during the auction raid. I think you should be able to use it fine given your profession"

Yoriko stared at the leather package with round amazed eyes, Hide wasn't sure what the human woman was thinking as she held the package in her two hands. Was it the thought of hurting or killing something was something that she was thinking about? Or was she feeling grateful and excited at having such a weapon that could kill something as strong as a ghoul? Hide couldn't tell.

However Yoriko put the knife in her bag and smiled gratefully and bowed to Yomo thanking him for the gift while the sliver haired just brushed it off hiding his embarrassment rather well. Soon enough the sound of a car horn sounded and group turned to see a nice sparkly clean black car parked outside the coffee shop.

"That looks like your ride" Touka said walking around the counter to give Yoriko a quick hug and did the same for Hide. "Just be careful you too, I want you both back in one piece"

The two humans waved their goodbyes as they left the coffee shop. Touka felt Yomo gently put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"They will be ok" He said and Touka nodded solemnly.

"I know"

Xxx

This was probably the nicest car Hide had ever been in. It wasn't a limousine but if it was much longer with an alcohol or soda box then it might as well have been. The leather seats where comfortable and nicely polished, there was plenty of leg room so Hide didn't feel that campiness he usually felt sittng in a car and it was also looked freshly clean. He would have been worried that he got the wrong car if it wasn't Kanae Von Rosewald who was driving.

"I apologize for Master Shuu not being able to greet you" The servant ghouls spoke with politeness that seemed a bit forced like he'd rather throw the humans out into the street than ride in his car "But Master Shuu had discovered something important that couldn't wait so I'll be driving you instead"

"That's fine" Hide said shortly hoping whatever Tsukiyama found out it had better be important for Hide to put up with the German ghouls presence.

Xxx

Back at the 11th ward Seidou was the third person to wake up. He noticed that Kaneki's and Hinami's sleeping bags were empty but he didn't dwell too much on it, Kaneki was an early raiser anyway and so could Hinami so the half-ghoul decided to take the five minute stroll to the 11th ward base. Maybe Kaneki and Hinami would be there? It was something to do anyway…

The Owl ghoul strolled leisurely towards and base and looking up at the sky he guessed it was no later than 9 o clock. It was nice having so much freedom Seidou couldn't help but think, it made a good change from wandering around the long dark underground corridors of the 18th ward and having to hide in the shadows. Once he got the old 11th ward base he noticed something was going on, maybe it was the feeling his gut or the loud voices but he quickened his walk and entered the base and further at the back Seidou could see a crowed of young people gathering around, they seemed to be listening to someone and Seidou recognised Ken Kaneki voice talking to the ghouls.

"Just remember, it doesn't matter how large your opponent is…Oh hi Takizawa!" Kaneki stretched his head to peek over the heads of his listeners and then everyone's eyes turned to the white haired half-ghoul, Hinami being among them.

"These guys wanted me to give them lessons after they saw me and Hinami train" Kaneki explained "Do you want to join us?" The Centipede ghoul beckoned the Owl ghoul over but Seidou stepped back and shook his head with a polite smile on his face, Kaneki's face suddenly looked a little disappointed as did Hinami's "Ok…Maybe next time then?"

The Owl ghoul nodded and hurriedly strolled back towards the exit of the base wanting to get far away from that large group as possible, just so the nerves inside his would just stop flipping and his breath would become steadier. He may have found his voice, and cared for his friends more…but he wasn't there yet.

Seidou found is feet leading him back towards the supermarket where his friends were sto;; sleeping, he didn't know why but he just wanted to get back to that place, where he felt safer and less lonely and he almost breathed a sigh of happiness as he found Naki standing outside the front door of the supermarket causally texting on his phone as he leaned on the wall but he looked up when he saw Seidou approaching.

"Yo Seidou!" He welcomed "Did you have a nice walk? Great! Listen I have a favour to ask, that Kanou dude wants to see me about something so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

"Err ok…" Seidou said glad that the blond ghoul was giving him a chance to answer "But where are we going?"

"To Aogiri's main base of course!" Naki cheered "Rue Island!" _Rue Island? That place sounded familiar…_

"Is it far?" Seidou asked and he also wondered how they were going to get there.

"Not really…Kanou getting one of his men to take us there by boat in the next half-hour" Naki answered then looked down at his black baggy clothes that Seidou had lent him "And I needed to get changed, no offence Seidou you're not the most stylish person…"

It took less than 20 minutes for Naki to take the car keys from Urie's coat pocket that was hung up in the back room of the supermarket then unlock the car to get his suitcase out and pull out his spare white suit, make up bad and black comb and Seidou watched as the baggy clothed ill looking Naki was suddenly transformed into his normal black eyed shiny suit self.

"It's good to be back!" Naki cried out in joy then turned to Seidou "Now since I can't write it's up to you to leave them a note then we will go down to the beach and wait for the boat" So Seidou did as instructed (Finding a note pad and pen in the back of the car) and put the note on the old checkout counter where he was sure they would see it and then followed Naki out the door to head towards the beach were a boat would waiting to take them to Rue Island.

Xxx 

The drive to the 21st ward felt long and boring. He and Yoriko had tried making up a conversation but it only lasted for 10 minutes before they drifted off into an awkward silence. Hide felt guilty for thinking this but he was secretly wishing that someone else was going with him…Like Touka or even Yomo.

Finally after what felt like an hour (which must of only 20 minutes) Rosewald said that they were now approaching the Tsukiyama estate. Hide's and Yoriko's attention was now on the front window as the car approached a large pair of decorated and fancy gates which could only belong to a rich person. The gates opened automatically opened for the car to drive though and once they entered it was like they were now in a totally different country. No longer could they see the city's large industrial buildings nor could they see any other cars or vehicles all that surrounded them was lush green scenery with large oak trees following them down the bumpy road and if Hide peered through those trees he could spot gardeners tending the flowers, pulling out weeds or cutting back hedges or trees.

The Tsukiyama's must own a lot of land.

Hide felt Yoriko tap rabidly on his shoulder, he turned to her as she pointed towards the front of the car.

"Look Hide, that house!" And Hide turned to the front window where he found himself face to face with a an amazingly large and white European styled house and Hide couldn't help to stare at it, taking as much detail as he could from up to the large baloney to the lovely polished oak front door that had been opened by Shuu Tsukiyama as soon as the car parked to a stop.

Hide and Yoriko had already pushed their doors open before Kanae had a chance to put his own hand on his door handle. Hide couldn't remember the last he had felt so happy to see Shuu Tsukiyama standing there in a black suit and red shirt, looking more normal in contrast to the strange overly bright (and expensive) suits he wears.

"Ah Nagachika-san and Kosaka-san" Tsukiyama greeted then with arms out stretched with a welcoming smile across his face "I'm sorry that I couldn't pick you up myself but I have found something really interesting, please come and make yourselves at home".

Xxx

Kaneki and Hinami made their way back to the supermarket, everyone was already up and dressed and sitting on top of checkout counter. The Quinx where busy talking about what they wanted for breakfast but looked up and smiled (Well with the expectation on Urie) as they noticed Hinami and Kaneki coming towards them looking worn out and sweaty from there training session.

"Hey guys!" Saiko greeted looking up from her game,

"Another training session?" Shirazu said looking them up and down "Man…next time you decide to run off leave us a note like Seidou and Naki did…"

"Wait. What?" Kaneki said holding his hand up to stop Shirazu "What note? Naki and Seidou where still sleeping when I left this morning…"

"I think we were gone longer than we thought onii-chan" Hinami said looking at her wrist watch "We've been gone for a few hours so Naki and Seidou could of left between that time…Where have the two gone?"

"The note said that they had gone to Rue Island" Mutsuki explained "Isn't that Aogiri's main headquarters?"

"Who cares?" Saiko cried out "I'm hungry! We may sleep in a supermarket but there is no food at all!"

"We will sort it out later" Athena said suddenly appearing behind them, the woman must have been around the back of the shop and she was holding a large notepad and pen in her hand with determination set on her face "I'm sure Naki and Seidou will be back soon, for now I want to discuss how we are going to get information on the CCG".

"I thought Eto said we were going to lure them out?" Shirazu asked scratching his head in puzzlement.

"We are" Alethea nodded "I have a plan already in mind but it's going to take all of us to cooperate if this is going to work without any of us getting caught"

"What do you have in mind?" Kaneki said feeling suddenly nervous as Athena smiled at him.

"Men…" She spoke "You are going to become girls!"

"WHAT!"

Xxx

Seidou and Naki had been sitting at the back of a speed boat for the past 15 minutes in silence as one of Kanou's men drove them to the Island but soon enough they saw the dark shape of Rue Island appearing though the late morning mist.

"Do you remember this place Seidou?" Naki asked turning to the white haired half-ghoul who looked at the Island in slight interest.

"It's rings some bells…" Seidou mumbled as he found himself getting nervous as they approached the Island. The name Rue Island sound familiar to him, like a haunting memory lingering at the back of his mind, but he knew one thing…the word Rue meant 'regret'.

The boat stopped by the shores of the beach and the three, Naki, Seidou and their driver, jumped off and tied up the boat by some rocks.

"Follow me" there driver said sternly and he lead Naki and Seidou towards the large rocky hill, Seidou suspected that the base must be inside the mountain or below it but for now it didn't matter because they were lead though a small hole in the side of the mountain which were hidden by bushes. You wouldn't be able to find it if you didn't know where to look.

The rest of the journey was all a blur to Seidou, all there was either cave or man-made walls leading him though large and small rooms and doors. There were even some Aogiri ghouls wondering around, even more than the 18th ward base. He wondered how many ghouls worked for Aogiri.

Finally they came to a stop by a large metal door and the Aogiri guard who had been leading them knocked on the door.

"Come in" The familiar voice of Doctor Kanou said and the guard opened the door for Naki and Seidou to enter and once they did, the door was firmly shut behind them. Seidou took in everything around him and it really did look like a mad scientists lair. The was covered in solid grey tiles that made their footsteps echo, Seidou's eyes wandered the many human sized metal tanks that where attached to the walls all labelled and names as 'Owl 08' 'Owl 09' 'Owl 10' and so on. Seidou didn't know what he would expect to find if he opened one of those tanks but whatever it was he knew it wouldn't be good.

Soon enough he saw the scientist in charge but to be more accurate he could smell Kanou before he could see him, he was the only human in the building and he stood in the middle of the floor with his back to the newcomers, he seemed to admire the test tanks around him…his creations.

"You got something to say Kanou?" Naki spoke up and the doctor turned and greeted them with a sly smile that sent shivers up Seidou's spine. The doctor wore a flower suit and he held a traditional Japanese fan in his hands. He seemed to be trying to give off a clam dilemma but in Seidou's eyes it made him looked creepier than usual.

There was something he didn't like about this man.

"I want to talk about Gagi and Guge…" The Seidou suddenly noticed small drops of tears about to pour from Naki's eyes. Seidou had heard about Gagi and Guge from Naki loads of times, they used to be Naki's bodyguards that were killed in the auction raid by some woman…Naki was still very upset about it.

"Please here me out" The doctor spoke seeing how upset Naki was becoming "They were ghouls who could not release their kagune right?"

"How do you know that?" Naki asked,

"I noticed when I was preforming their autopsies. Both had a RC pipe blockage nest their kakuhou, causing them to be unable to release their kagune…But it is certain that the dormant kagune they possess where of very high quality. Hypothetically, if they were ever turned into quinque the data shows that their instant RC factor may be registered at around 3800…I would really like to make use of this in my research but would you approve of that?"

Naki's eyes shift sideways uncomfortably. Seidou knew that the information was very hard for Naki to understand, Seidou didn't even understand it himself.

"Pops, I don't really know anything about this hard stuff. Research, what is that? Is that an experiment?"

"Anyhow" The doctor continued "What I'm asking you is if I could make them like that…Let me explain more I want to further develop the QS surgery"

"What are you talking about?" Seidou asked and Kanou looked at him as if he had just realized that the half-ghoul had been standing there. "I thought you could remove each of the frames inside the QS Kakuhou once they were ready and other time they would turn into half-ghouls, isn't that what you want?" Seidou knew all about the QS surgery from Eto and Kaneki talking about one time. Kanou stared at him in surprise then smiled turned away.

"Of course that is the basic plan" Kanou said "It's true that the QS are the most successful experiments produced since Ken Kaneki however they are not _perfect_ and complications can happen"

"What complications?" Naki asked suddenly looked worried, he had got to know the QS over the past four months and this mission had brought the group closer and he didn't like thought his new friends turning into something like Kanou's failed creations.

"It's nothing nether of you two need to worry about" The doctor said waving them off "I thought we were talking about Gagi and Guge were we not?"

Naki shrugged and nodded but he and Seidou couldn't get what the doctor just said before out of their minds.

"Anyway I'm glad that you Takizawa" The doctor continued "What I'm about to say is something you might find interesting because the Yoshimura-base, meaning your base Takizawa, has a very low success rate of owls…Even using such tough ghoul investigators, there has only been one successful and that is you?" He pointed to Seidou who was shifting uncomfortably, he didn't really understand what the doctor was saying, it was almost like he was saying that he made him.

"We have sacrificed 1200 bodies with the Rize-base and we only got three successful cases from that one…That's a success rate of just 0.0025% and out of those two prototypes and inferior to Ken Kaneki. They're Floppy" Now Seidou was really confused, 1200 people died because of Kanou's experiments? This man was dangerous…

"Ken Kaneki…" Kanou carried on looking back at his test tanks "He was confident and showed it he can even tie with you Takizawa. Is it because successful Rize-based cases are just better, or was it Ken Kaneki's own power? I'm not sure, anyway as an experiment he's complete, imperfect because he's a growing perfection"

"As I'm saying" Kanou continued turning back to his confused duo, Naki looking the worst… "I want to know what makes Kaneki so successful from the others, no matter how much I examined his body when he first came here I couldn't work it out, I want to create more like that"

"Even when the QS experiment could still be successful?" Seidou ask, he didn't really understand or care too much about this he was just worried about the QS.

"Like said, it can still have its complications" Kanou flapped his fan a little as he spoke "To reach a big goal, two things are required: One is determination, and help from assistants. Edison had Francis Upton…Einstein had Leopold Infeld to receive mathematical advice from. Likewise, I have received ideas from an excellent assistant"

At this moment Naki was clutching the back of his head in pain and look almost as sick as he did yesterday "Unpon? Bolonton?" Seidou couldn't blame Naki, he was might confused himself…The doctor didn't bring them all the way here to talk about science history did he? What happened to the conversation about Gagi and Guge?

"Basically…" The Doctor continued "I was wondering if you'd allow me to the bring Gagi and Guge back to life. So to say."

"You can really bring Gagi and Guge back to life!" Naki asked excitedly, his eyes widened as he stared at the doctor in wonderment and disbelieve however Seidou couldn't help but be sceptical, bring people back from the dead? That didn't make sense.

"In a certain, yes" Kanou said, Seidou wondered what he meant by that but Naki hadent seemed to catch on to that small sentence.

"I-I want them back! Do you think you can pull that off?!" Naki asked and the doctor smiled.

"Yeah" Doctor Kanou nodded "I promise that I will succeed"

"Thanks a lot pops! Kano, I thought you were just an old fart but you are a nice guy after all! Come on Seidou!" and with joyful hop in his step Naki headed for the exit with Seidou silently following behind. He briefly looked back at Kanou who was watched the pair of them leave with a slight grin on his face. Seidou shivered, he didn't like show those small light coloured eyes looked at him as if he was some kind of 'thing' or 'toy'.

Gladly Seidou turned away from the doctor and left the lab.

Xxx

Mimi was cold, hungry and scared, this shouldn't have happened. She had done everything that bandaged woman said, she let those QS into her husband's cannibal ring and she had kept out of the way but now the business was gone, the customers had fled, the CCG was on the hunt and her husband was dead and if caught she could get executed for helping ghouls.

Despite that bandaged ghoul's promises she had lost everything…and specking of the devil.

From the underground sewers were she was hiding she heard light steps approaching, the woman looked up and reached to grab the gun out of her pocket. She knew if the visitor was a ghoul it would be no good but it was all she had.

"There is no need for that" The visitor tutted, at the moment all Mimi could see was a dark shadow however she recognised the voice from anywhere.

"You…" Mimi sneered; she could feel her blood boiling as the visitor steeped into the light, revealing a small woman in a red hood with white bandages wrapped around her face leaving only two black holes for her eyes.

"Hello again…Mimi…I have another job for you"

 **Note: Yeah I decided to put Naki's visit to Kanou (Chapter 44) in this arc rather than the Rosewald Arc, it just suits the purpose more and remember this is a fanfic so I can make the QS experiment go 'badly' wrong... Also if you haven't worked it out Mimi is the woman who welcomed Shirazu, Rin, Seidou and Urie in to the Cannibal ring a couple of chapters ago, it's not hard to work out that they weren't brought there on purpose.**

 **By the way I know it doesn't look like it but we are coming to the end of this arc. In the next chapter we have: Suu... Yay! More Eto... Yay! More QS…Yay! More CCG….. Never mind…**

 **Also I'm sorry that I haven't been able to reply to reviews as I sometimes do, college deadlines are coming up and you know how it is but I will do them here for a change.**

 **nissangtrlover2569: Sadly Ken has no choice. Are Ali and Oli ghouls? Just wait and see.**

 **Thlonewanderer: OMG! Thank you so much!**

 **Sinthija: Thank you for your input its very helpful and I'll have to fix that at some point it was very helpful. To be honest I prefer calling Mutsuki a 'he' because that's what he likes to be called but calling him a 'she' sounded more fitting for that chapter, I'll have to take a look. Also if you've only watched the anime I highly recommend the manga**

 **: (Lets see what I remember from my Spanish classes) Gracias para la revision!**

 **codename00guest: Haven't fixed that mistake yet but I will…one day…**

 **Haruto Arima: Yeah I get you…Yep Hide and his Kaneki hunting…what's going to happen this time lol.**

 **Guest: Thank you!**

 **PhantomxWolf: Your feeling do not lie to you…You just have to wait and see ;)**

 **Awww thank you everyone! Seriously your reviews keep this story going even in these stressful times…I would like to thank all the new followers to this story, I got a lot on the last chapter…How many Tokyo ghoul fans are there? O.O**

 **Again thank you!**

 **Becky4ever1996.**


	42. Takizawa Arc: Coming Together

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 17: Coming Together**

Mimi pulled the trigger and shot at the lone ghoul, the loud sound of the bullet ringing in her ears and made her jump in her seating position. Mimi opened her eyes that she hadn't realised where closed, her hands shook at the sound of the gun but that wasn't what scared her. The bandaged ghoul hadn't moved from her placed and from behind her wrapped up face Mimi was sure that the ghoul had raised her eyebrows in a surprised but curious way, her head was tilted to the side like a child would do if he was interested or puzzled by a new toy she had just discovered.

Ever so slowly the ghoul lifted up her bandaged hand towards her shoulder where her red robes where torn from the bullet which must of hit however all the bullet had done was ruin her clothes, no blood could be seen as the ghoul carefully untangled the bullet from the fabric and held it up to her black hollow eyes to examine.

"Oh dear, that wasn't very nice was it?" The ghoul spoke as one would talk to a naughty child, she tutted and shook her head as she threw the bullet behind her, her eyes where now on Mimi who's shaking hands had dropped the gun and was now pressing herself further back in to the wall, but of course it would be no good.

"S-stay away!" Mimi shouted, her voice trembled as she spoke and she watched in despair as the ghoul slowly strolled closer towards her.

"Now, now that is no way to treat your customers, I thought you would know that" As she spoke the ghoul pulled out a large brown package from her robe pockets and dropped it on the floor at Mimi's feet.

"Here is what I promised" Eto said stepping back a little "A whole big lump of cash for your services, if I were you I would use that money to move out of Tokyo, buy a nice house in the countryside or something because not only will the CCG be after you once they know you were involved but there are also the ghouls who you put in danger…"

"I didn't mean to…." Mimi cried, her body trembled as she hid her face between in knees and wept "I….I killed my husband! If you hadn't got me to persuade the workers to kidnap that girl and her friend and let those strange half-ghouls and that little girl in this would NEVER HAVE HAPPENED!"

Mimi lifted her head up from knees, her red tear filled eyes stared straight at the ghoul who stood motionless and stared blankly at the devastated woman, Eto felt no pity.

"Yes it would" The bandaged ghoul said simply unmoving from her position in almost creepy and statue like manner.

"NO IT WOULDN'T!" Mimi screamed but Eto was unimpressed and stayed still and doll like speaking with calmness.

"You think the CCG wouldn't have found out eventually?" Eto asked and Mimi's body jerked at the mention of those Doves. "Don't you think that I've done you a favour?"

"A favour?" Mimi asked confused by the bandaged ghoul's words.

"Yes" Eto nodded "You are an independent woman now, you no longer have to work for your husband or deal with ghouls if you don't want too and you have money too but cash can only go far before it runs out, do me one more errand and I can ensure your comfort and living needs"

"What are you talking about?!" Mimi demanded and the small ghoul giggled.

"It's like I said, remember when you were a child you were told that once you where an adult no one is coming up to you and hand you money on a silver plate, you had to earn it? Well if you do me this one little last job for me I will ensure you have a comfortable and safe life in the countryside far away from here. You needn't worry about money, bills or surviving again just you and your little house you might even be able to find a new husband. What do you say?"

Mimi thought for a minute, last time she made a deal with this ghoul she had lost everything. She looked down at the package by her feet, she knew that much of money could only go so far and she didn't have much skills to work in an ordinary job, that's why she let her husband sort out all the business stuff while she collected the yen.

She looked back up at the ghoul, she felt foolish but the ghoul was offering her something that people wouldn't refuse, a life in comfort without having to work and if one little job was all the ghoul was asking then it was fine, it's not like she had anything left to lose.

"What do you need me to do?"

Xxx

Hide and Yoriko followed the Gourmet ghoul inside the manor with Kanae taking the rear. Hide felt honoured to be invited into such a grand house, it was European styled inside as it was out, the hallway Hide had stepped into had lovely polished white walls and soft red carpet so he didn't hear his footsteps. A butler stood by the door and bowed to the group making Hide fell like he had entered royalty.

"Greetings friends of Master Shuu" The butler greeted Hide and Yoriko with a bow and turned towards Tsukiyama "The human refreshment you requested are prepared in the sitting area"

"Thank you" Shuu waved the butler off and lead the two humans towards a large wooden door not too far off down the hall.

"Again I'm sorry that I couldn't pick up myself but I want all the information prepared before you got here" Shuu explained but Hide shook his head,

"It's ok, just tell us what you found out" the human said as Shuu pushed open the door to the seating area which was a large bright room which was just as grand as the rest of the house. The walls where painted white and the floor was a creamy white wood colour. The long wall straight ahead of them was made of glass staring out at the lush green garden and colourful flowers that were still in bloom due to summer.

In the middle of this room were two sofa's around a small coffee table with a single file on top, a pot of tea and some cookies. The group sat down on the sofa's with Shuu on one side while Hide and Yoriko sat together on the other.

"Forgive me if I don't eat anything" Shuu stated picking up one of the files "But as you know fate is cruel but please help yourself to the refreshments because I feel that we have a lot to get though".

"So much to get though that you invited us to your house?" Hide asked leaning forward to take a cookie and Shuu nodded.

"I'm afraid so" The Gourmet said "That photo you sent me yesterday made me realized how serious the situation is becoming, those people you saw coming out of the CCG where from USGEP" Shuu paused and watched the humans faces waiting for a reaction and was disappointed to find that they were looking a bit bored.

"I kinda guessed that already…." Hide said nervously picking at the close cotton on his jeans "I mean I couldn't see any other explanation, there was a newspaper article a few days ago talking about an American tourist, Victoria Cysice which was killed by ghouls who possibly belonged Aogiri but there wasn't that much information so maybe that why the USGEP are here"

"Well yes" Shuu nodded "But don't you think that the lack of information on the victim is strange? When someone is killed by a ghoul they newspaper gives the readers as much info as they can about the death such as what type of ghoul it was, where and when the accident took place and which CCG officers are on the case but this time the information is bleak, like they are trying to keep the public in the dark"

"But why would the CCG want to do that?" Yoriko asked "They always welcome help from citizens"

"Yes, it's strange" Shuu nodded "We can't do our own investigation since we don't know where she could have died or if Kaneki has any connection to it but there is nothing we can do about that at the moment and the fact that these black jacket people are here means that the CCG are in a spot of bother at the moment"

"The USGEP have ghouls working for them rather than kill them right?" Yoriko asked "So why would CCG want these people here and surely what the CCG does goes against the USGEP's morals? So why would these American investigators be here?"

"And what if I told you…" Shuu started resting his hands on his chin "That those black jacket Americans where ghouls?"

"Huh?" Hide questioned, his head shot up to meet Shuu in the eyes "You can't be serious?!" Hide shot "The CCG would never work with ghouls, those two would be killed!"

"Not unless the Washuu clan and the rest of the leaders are the only ones that know" Shuu winked and the two humans stared at the ghoul unsure whether to believe him or not.

"The CCG working with ghouls…" Hide sighed rubbing his head in thought, it sounded crazy.

"More like the 'Washuu's' working with ghouls" Shuu corrected "Besides it's possible that the CCG don't have a choice, the USGEP have an arm of ghouls under their control which makes this group very powerful and it would be bad to upset them besides the real question is…Why the USGEP interfering now, just when Aogiri is starting to make moves?"

"And what do the USGEP want?" Hide finished and the room and was pulled into a deep silence, Hide bit his lip in thought, there was something he wanted to asked the Gourmet.

"Have you heard about what's happened in the 14th ward?" He asked and Shuu nodded solemnly,

"I have got the little mouse to look into it" He answered "I also talked to those clowns last night and this is the main reason I wanted to talk to you, you see…Before the incident Kaneki was visiting their bar"

"What?!" Hide gasped and Yoriko sat up straighter looking just as shocked as Hide, "What was he doing there, what did he want and is he still there?!" Hide bombarded Shuu with questions, the Gourmet but his hand up trying to calm the human down.

"Please calm down Hideyoshi-kun" Shuu said "I understand your excitement but please let me finish, the Clowns didn't want to tell me why he was there but he's not there now…anyway I have some ideas where he could have been heading to" Shuu took out one of the files that sat on the coffee table and pulled out what looked like a map of Tokyo.

"We always safely assumed that Kaneki could be in the 18th Ward but we couldn't get there cause it's far too dangerous to go without the fear of being wrong" Shuu started to explained "And let just say that Kaneki was living in the 18th Ward then why would he risk going all the way to 14th Ward just to talk to the Clowns"

"It is a risky move" Yoriko nodded "He would either have to go through the Dove Wards or go all the way around them but that would be the long way to go"

"Exactly" Shuu nodded "Then at the same time random ghouls burst out on to the streets causing the CCG a lot of problems and with everything that's been going on from the CCG car raid and that investigators house being broken into is making me think it was planned"

"Maybe" Hide nodded "But that doesn't tell us where Kaneki is now"

"I think it does" Shuu said grinning "Kaneki is Aogiri's best weapon and the One-eyed Owl would rather keep him close, anyone in Aogiri could have been sent to the 14th ward but why him? Unless there is a bigger job planned for him"

"A bigger job? What do you mean?" Hide asked suddenly feeling worried,

"There is no evidence but if we look at everything that's has gone on the next best thing for Aogiri would be to control more area and the best place for them to start would be back at their old base in the 11th ward".

"I suppose that makes…" Hide said in though scratching his head in though "The 11th ward is nothing but a deserted war zone with a few homeless ghouls and humans walking about, people are too scared to come near the place so it would be an easy take for Aogiri"

"But if Aogiri had taken over the 11th ward wouldn't we have heard about it?" Yoriko asked, being the one who usually hears about the news first.

"Not if they wanted to take over it in secret" Shuu said putting his hands together "Aogiri can't take over the ward right away, they would want to know the situation over there and what type of people live there, besides wouldn't be more useful for Aogiri to send a small group round there to take a look? But along the way draw the CCG's attention on the 14th ward and while that is happening let the small group plot their next move in the 11th ward…does that make sense"

Hide nodded slowly taking another cookie and nibbled it slowly, this was the type of plan Aogiri would do and the type of plan Kaneki wouldn't mind following but the important thing to think about was what was Hides next move? Go to the 11th Ward? Shuu was watching Hide and he seemed to understand what the human was thinking.

"Let's not go rushing into the 11th ward yet" The Gourmet said solemnly "After Chie is done in the 14th ward she will be traveling to the 11th ward because if Kaneki is there it's possible that his little students are there also and Chie needs to collect payment from one of them"

"Payment?" Hide asked raising an eyebrow at the ghoul in front of him and Shuu nodded,

"Don't worry, this will help us in the long run" Shuu explained "I can't tell you at the moment but if our theory is correct and Kaneki is the 11th ward then this will help us find him without anyone having to die in some stupid accident"

"Can't you at least give us hint to what your planning" Yoriko asked leaning forward her eyes big and round trying to look adorable, Hide admitted that she did look cute but he had the feeling that Yoriko wasn't Shuu's type.

"I'm sorry but it will make more sense once everything is ready, the best thing you two can do is stay away from the 11th ward and that way no one gets hurt" Shuu said this as his eyes watched Hide intensely, the human shifted uncomfortably he knew what the ghoul was trying to say beneath those eyes it was _'don't do anything rash'_ and Hide wasn't going to! Being rash was a Kaneki thing not his but surely the 11th ward can't be full of Aogiri yet? He would have heard about it otherwise…so maybe he could take small look later on.

Xxx

Sometimes Urie questioned people's sanity and this was one of those times. It took a bit of time for Athena's plan to sink into the guys thick heads but to everyone's surprise Kaneki was happy to go along with it and said it sounded like a lot of fun, Mutsuki looked uncomfortable but seemed to go along with it anyway while Shirazu needed a bit of prompting from Kaneki, Athena and Saiko but finally agreed to go clothes shopping with a Saiko and Mutsuki (and he supposed being squad leader he had to go with the plan anyway to make a good impression) while Athena, Kaneki and Hinami decided to stay behind and watch the base. Urie declared he wasn't going to have any part of Athena's stupid plan. There was no way in hell he was dressing up as a girl.

At this moment Urie was standing at the beach deep in thought thinking about what had happened the past couple of days from breaking into Arthur Reed's house to the Eto's punishment, rescuing Hinami and Naki and now being here in the 11th ward. If someone had told him over 4 months ago that this was going to be his life he would have laughed in their faces.

"Hi Urie!" A loud high pitched voice greeted him from behind, the Quinx found himself jumping back in shock and turned to face the speaker ready to pull out his kagune if needed but he needn't had worried because standing in front of him was the a small chestnut haired woman who Urie thought forgot about him.

"Miss Hori!" Urie gasped, it felt like forever since he had seen this woman then he remembered the deal the two had made, information for a piece of Kaneki's clothes.

"Hi Urie, I thought I'd would find you here" The girl smiled randomly snapping a photo of Urie's confused face "Did you forget about our deal?"

"No, of course not!" Urie snapped "But what's not what's important! How did you know I would be here?" Only Aogiri higher up knew where the QS were and the fact a simple woman like Chie was able to keep finding them too quickly worried Urie.

"Well that little stunt that was pulled in the 14th ward gave me some idea that Aogiri might go back to their old base, some other things made me think this as well but that's not important for you to know" Chie shrugged and put her camera away in her bag "So that payment…"

"Look if I knew you were coming you would have it already" Urie answered back a little bit to snappy but he didn't care, this woman knew too much and if she causes any trouble he'd rather have nothing coming back on him.

"That's ok" Chie smiled "I'm going to hanging around the 11th ward for a bit anyway, if I can get a piece of clothing that Ken Kaneki wears all the time then you won't have to see me again"

"Ok" Urie nodded, this was perfect because tonight Kaneki will be going crossdressing and wouldn't be wearing his usual clothes, this was good timing "Can you meet me here around 9:00 tonight, everyone in my group will be gone by then"

"That's fine with me" Chie nodded "By the way…do your friends know about our deal?"

"Well apart from Shirazu they shouldn't…why?" Urie asked,

"Cause a couple of them are coming this way now" The small woman pointed behind him and Urie turned towards the sea where a small speed boat was heading their way and when Urie looked closely he recognised Naki's blond hair and Seidou's white hair and dark clothing, they also had some Aogiri guard driving them.

"I better run" Chie said turning away "I bet you don't want your friends to know that we are talking" But before Urie could reply and small woman was already running off and somehow Urie felt like he had just dug his own grave.

Urie turned back towards the boat which was coming closer and sighed, while he was here he might as well make sure Seidou and Naki were ok. Besides he was curious about this Rue Island.

Xxx

The rest of the afternoon ran quite smoothly. The CCG was busy investigating the 14th ward and that included Ali and Oli but Arthur chose to stay behind with Akira in her office. Since that incident of ghouls suddenly pouring onto the 14th ward roads the media had been more interested in that than his house being broken into, it seemed that the people in the media were having a busy week.

Arthur at this moment was researching more into Aogiri and its history, the group was formed 13 years ago and has grown in to a much larger threat over the years and is the mysterious One-Eyed-King was meant to be in charge. There main base used to be in the 11th ward that was taken down over four years ago and it's been hard to pin-point the groups location since. He had also looked more info on the current and past members which had taken him majority of the day but he felt like he had grained some useful information to help him with the CCG's goals and his own.

He had never felt so closer to Kanou since coming to Japan.

Akira had been sitting at her own desk filling out paper work for her bosses and reading though her own squads repots when there was a light knock on the door. Akira told the knocker to come in and a chubby look secretary came through the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you Akira-san and Reed-san but there is a visitor downstairs saying that she has information regarding the Centipede case"

"Ok send her to one of the meeting rooms" Akira nodded at the secretary "Me and Reed-san will be down in the minute"

The secretary nodded and left shutting the door behind him, Arthur turned to Akira with a light smile.

"It's not hoax do you think?" Arthur asked putting his papers away as Akira stood up from her desk,

"Let's hope not" She said and Arthur followed the woman out of the office and towards the lift and pressed the button to go downstairs. Once the duo made it downstairs the pair moved towards the privet meeting rooms, once they opened the door they were greeted by the black haired woman with her hair tied in a tight bun, she wore a shabby red skirt and brown long sleeved top as if she were homeless or just really poor but she looked happy as the same secretary from before served the woman tea and left once Arthur and Akira sat down on the sofas opposite the woman.

"Hello" Akira greeted "I'm Associate Special Class Akira Mado and this is my partner Arthur Reed" She gestured towards Arthur who nodded "We are in charge of the Centipede case and we are grateful you are able to assist us"

The woman smiled nervously and shook her head "It's no trouble, my name is Mimi Kamiya I put all my details on the report your secretary made me write up"

"Of course there is no point asking these details if we are going to read it later" Akira said nodding "So what can you tell us?"

"Well you see I live in the 14th next to this small nightclub called The Encounter and the man on the wanted posters called Ken Kaneki, goes to that club often" Mimi explained but Arthur put his hand up stopping Mimi in her explanation.

"I'm sorry Mimi-san but how long as the Centipede ghoul been visiting this club?" Arthur asked and he watched the woman bite her lip nervously as if she was trying to remember lines she was told to revise.

"He's been going every Monday, Thursday and Friday for the past three weeks" Mimi said "He has also been seen with that ghoul who escaped the other day…Athena I think her name is and couple of other people I don't recognise"

"Ok" Akira nodded writing this all down on her notepad "So he comes to this club, The Encounter, every Monday, Thursday and Friday? So he will be going tonight…What time does he usually come by this place?"

"Anytime between six and seven" Mimi answered confidently nodding as her hands nervously played with a piece cotton on her skirt "I don't usually see him leave".

"Thank you" Akira nodded jotting down her notes "But it's quite strange how you're the only one who has reported this when the club seems such a public place.

"He's usually disguised as a woman" Mimi explained "I knew it was him because of the face and one of his gang said his name outside the club and he hushed him up, I saw all of this when walking home from work"

"I see" Akira nodded but Arthur raised his eyebrow not feeling convinced about Mimi's story and watching Akira's face, it seemed that she wasn't convinced either "we will look into what you have reported, thank you for coming in"

Mimi blinked in surprise and Arthur couldn't blame her, it felt like Akira had cut the interview short as she lead Mimi Kamiya though the front entrance and waved goodbye and Mimi seemed happy to get out of the building.

"Do you believe her?" Arthur asked sounding amused but Akira wasn't laughing,

"It's not funny" Akira snapped "That woman was a bad lair and she didn't seem so sure of herself that's why I let her go sooner than I should of, but the main question is why would she lie and is someone making her say this stuff?"

"Do you think we should look into this club?" Arthur asked,

"Well first I want to look at what that woman wrote in her contact details, I doubt anything she wrote was true but we better look, it's possible they are setting up a trap for us in this club, lets avoid it until we get enough info"

"Oh I don't know" Arthur shrugged letting a sly smile form across his face "I think it would be interesting to see what's waiting for us there, I think they are expecting us to go tonight"

"Tonight?!" Akira gasped turning sharply to face the British investigator "We can't avoid to be that rash when dealing with someone like Ken Kaneki, this is no light matter, if we knew what Kamiya-san said was true we would send undercover investigators in to check what's going on but at this moment it seems far too dangerous and with Aogiri being active for the past week we can't deal with anymore reports!"

"But don't you think it's strange how they want to use into the 14th ward while a whole bunch of investigators are already there already?" Arthur asked raising an eyebrow ignoring Akira's comment. The blond woman turned away from Arthur with a huff and spoke with sternness in her voice that even made Arthur tremble.

"Arthur I understand that the UK does things differently than we do but while you're under the CCG you must follow our rules and orders which means that I don't permit you to go The Encounter until said otherwise, violation of that rule will remove you from my office and probably the organization is that understood?"

"Yes ma…" Arthur said with a snap in his voice like a sarcastic child specking to their parent and he watched as Akira strolled away from him, he could feel a dark shadow raiding off her and Arthur turned away and pulled out his phone, went through his contacts and looked for Ali's number and clicked on the call button.

" _Hello?"_ Ali's voice said specking though the phone,

"Hi, it's me Arthur" He said looking around in case anyone was listening "I need your help"

Xxx

Hide and Yoriko had spent most of the day with Shuu Tsukiyama taking about Aogiri, the CCG, Arthur Reed, Ken Kaneki and possible theories on what could be going on. After their chat Shuu gave them a tour around the house and gardens. Yoriko really enjoyed herself and Hide couldn't help but be impressed and was glad when Kanae was nowhere to be seen but was surprised not to see any other of Shuu's family members and Shuu didn't mention them so Hide never asked.

Around four in the afternoon Hide felt tired and suggested they go home, luckily Shuu had got another one of his politer servants, Mairo to drive them back to Re. Once outside Re Yoriko nodded goodbye to Hide before setting of to her own home, Hide opened the café doors and was welcomed to the sound of a plate smashing and some guys voice he didn't recognise shouting in the backroom, but the specked, though specking perfect Japanese seemed to have very strong America accent.

"Honestly Adrianne this is our first day on the job and already you've broken four plates, two dishes and six cups!" The male voice shouted.

"Sorry Dan…" A voice of a girl said whose name seemed to be Adrianne.

"You should say sorry to Mr Yomo and Miss Touka, it's their stuff your breaking!" Hide made his way around the counter and towards the backroom where he found a young woman kneeling besides a broken plate she had blue spiky hair and large blue eyes to match and standing above her was a stern young man with ball cut brown hair, large glasses and a long nose that probably made him look older than he actually was. They both looked up when they noticed that Hide was watching behind the door.

"Oh sorry sir but you can't be in here…" The young man started but then the familiar voice deep voice of Yomo called out,

"It's ok Marley-kun" Yomo had come down the stairs, probably to see what had broken "This is Hideyoshi he lives here and what was that crash I just heard?"

"Just Adrianne breaking another plate" Daniel said pointing towards the girl who suddenly very frightened,

"I'm so sorry!" The girl cried gasping her hands together in plea "We needed extra plates and thought I could help but I messed up didn't I…"

Yomo rolled her eyes and bit his lip and Hide knew that look on Yomo very well, it was that look he made when he wanted to say something blunt and rude but was restraining himself for Touka's and the café's sake but instead he introduced Hide the two strange teens.

"These are the new employees that Touka was talking about, this man is Daniel Marley and the girl here is Adrianne Wembley they are students from America who continuing their education here" Hide smiled at the two new workers and they smiled back,

"Where's Touka anyway?" Hide asked Yomo,

"She upstairs resting" The large man said then turned back to the two new workers "Now please clean this up and go home, I suppose we will see you tomorrow morning?"

"Yes sir" The two new workers bowed their thanks and Daniel helped Adrianne clear away and Yomo lead Hide upstairs.

"You're not going to let that girl continue working are you?" Hide asked Yomo quietly as they were halfway up the stairs,

"It would have made sense to sack her right now" Yomo mumbled back "However Touka feels there is something off about Adrianne so she wants to keep her working here for a little while, besides you ask her yourself"

The two stopped outside Touka's room, Yomo knocked and Hide heard Touka's voice shout them to come in. Yomo pushed open the door and Hide went through was surprised to see Touka sitting on her bed wearing her long black coat, black combo boots with her rabbit mask on her lap.

"Ok Hide" She said "what did the Gourmet bastard say and where are being dragged to off this time?"

Xxx

Urie had spent most of his day training outside or exploring the 11th ward, he only started to make his way back to the shop when his stomach started to rumble, he looked at is watch and already it was four o clock. He just hoped that Saiko, Shirazu and Mutsuki picked up food as well as clothes and he wasn't disappointed.

"Hi Urie, I was wondering when you were coming back!" Mutsuki greeted him once he walked through the door, and held out a sandwich for him "We got some food while shopping, have a ham sandwich" Urie thanked the green haired Quinx and looks around the shop, that nearly everyone in the group was missing and it was only Mutsuki and him in the room.

"We're missing a couple of people" Urie commented and Mutsuki shrugged going back to eating his sandwich.

"Well Athena, Naki and Hinami are helping Takizawa with a make-over" Mutsuki explained "Saiko, Shirazu and Kaneki-san are getting ready for tonight"

"Are they really going through with the plan?" Mutsuki asked,

"Yeah but we are going to the 14th ward to lure Arthur Reed there, so maybe it would work?" Mutsuki said and Urie still had a question.

"But how can Athena be so sure that Arthur will come?"

"Well…" Mutsuki started but then the back door opened, the duo turned to see a sight that they won't forget anytime soon. Stood there leaning on the door frame with his…or her hands on her hips stood a white blond haired woman wearing black tights and a short knee length white dress and wearing her makeup so perfectly and professionally that they had to look twice before realising that it was there teacher, Ken Kaneki standing there with Saiko with her arms crossed leaning on her 'Maman' in her own party dress.

"You boys, how long so you plan on chatting?" Kaneki…or Kaneko said in a realistic woman voice that it almost like they were staring at Kaneki's twin sister or something.

"I'm having no part in this" Urie spoke bluntly and Saiko gave him a glare and probably would have said something if Shirazu hadn't come busting though the storage room on the other side of the shop looking like he belonged in a circus act.

"Seriously Nekisan do I have to go through with this?!" the squad leader shouted "I look ridiculous!" But then Shirazu realised that Mutsuki and Urie were in the room staring at the squad leader with mouths wide open in shock, then Saiko burst out laughing,

"Buhahaha! Shirako's a beauty!"

"Saiko! Why you! Stop laughing!" Shirazu shouted but Urie couldn't blame Saiko for laughing. Shirazu had applied his make up too heavily, his lipstick was smudged, his mascara and eyeshadow was messy that it looked like he had dark bags under his eyes and the blush was too red. For the clothes he wore a red strapless dress with a black strip though the middle and black cardigan to hide his arms he also wore a black and white striped scarf around his neck.

"Come here Shirako" Kaneko beckoned the squad leader over with some make up remover in one hand and a makeup box in the other "let's see if I can fix your make up?"

Xxx

Adrianne was walking down the streets of the fifth ward, she had told Daniel to go home without her and that she wanted some time alone. The American had no problem with this and went on his way while Adrianne turned the corner into to fifth ward alleyways where most of the ghouls lived but she wasn't there to bother them, no…in fact she was expected.

The blue haired girl happily skipped her way through the alleyways passing ghouls and homeless people alike without fear or thought. She moved with speed and grace that she didn't need to worry if she was going the wrong way or not, in fact she knew this path very well…

After a few more twists and turns she came to the brick wall where graffiti of a classic clown with a large red nose and a white face was sprayed on. She didn't have to wait long until three ghouls wearing clown masks and fancy suites approached her.

Adrianne smiled at them like old friends and waved her quinque case around childishly in the air,

"Oh no!" She cried with a laughing smile on her face "A group of ghouls coming to gang up on little ol' me! What's a lone investigator without her squad meant to do?"

"It's ok" the clown masked ghoul said, his mask was more frightening than the others, his mask had a large red ball where his nose would be and big red grinning lips with a pink heart on the right side of his face which stood out against the white "No one is here besides us, you can drop the act now Roma…"

 **Note: Shit! Nearly four weeks since my last update, I'm so sorry about this but I caught a flu that I had to take some time of college and now I've come down with a** **sinus headache which is not good at all…yeah my Easter isn't going well but don't worry I'm taking the right medication and I'm not dying…Oh well at least I got a lot of chocolate :D**

 **Well what do you think of Adrianne's real identity? I know I have a lot of explaining to do and it's been hard trying not to give you readers hints but I really can't wait for the next chapter! We have Kaneko and gang going to The Encounter, Urie meeting Chie, I'm sure you can guess what Arthur wants to do and the same with Hide, oh and we also have the Clowns and what's going to happen to Mimi. I think it's going to take two or three chapters to explain it all but after that we should have the final battle for the Takizawa-arc then the story is going to go mad from there.**

 **Also I'm sure from reading this chapter you can work out what's going on behind the scenes with Eto and Mimi and I'm sure your smart another to realise that Eto and Athena have had this all set up from the beginning.**

 **Anyway thank everyone for reviewing on the last chapter you are all so amazing and I'm only one away from getting 100 fav's and one away from 180 reviews! Let's see if we can get it up to 200 reviews? In a few more chapter of course…**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	43. Takizawa Arc: The Encounter

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 18: The Encounter**

Adrianne… or should now say Koma smirked as she pulled of the blue wig and let her short red hair out. She took out the startling blue contacts revealing smaller golden brown eyes. The ghoul sighed and as she dropped the items on the floor along with the quinque case and sulk to the floor.

"I know I'm a Clown and all that but I don't know how much longer I can keep up with all this acting!" Roma sighed with her head slumped down resting on her hands "I mean… going all the way to America to kill the real Adrianne Wembley and pretended to be her when I hardly know anything about the woman was such a bother! And having to learn where everything is and how to get to places is also a headache!"

"But you did so well Roma" Uta said slipping off his own mask, it was the same masked he had worn at the auction and looked dark compared to Souta's and Itori's mask. Itori slipped off her own mask, hers was very similar to Souta's mask but hers had a pointed chin and larger lips with huge shark like teeth, for the eyes it was a heart and patch with the ace of spades on the cheek.

Itori sat down besides the miserable looking Roma and swung her arm around her in comfort "Uta-san is right Ro-chan, not once have poor Adrianne's friends noticed anything wrong and those fools in Re know no better! Everything is playing out as it should! Just carry on a little longer and you won't have to see those dumb American's ever again!"

"Roma don't be racist" Souta sighed "These people come from the first country who, for the first time in history, manged to cooperate with ghouls so we should respect them for their open minds besides…We still have to careful that Marley boy doesn't work out why _Adrianne_ is being so clumsy with the dishes also I think that Oli is smarter than he looks and his sister Ali is close to that Arthur Reed, seriously that guy is being a pain…If no one works out that Adrianne is ghoul then he will"

"Oh I don't know…" Uta said tilted his head in thought "I think that tea drinking investigator is quite interesting…He would make an excellent rival for Kaneki-kun and the fact that he's so close to the doctor Kanou and his plans make this game entertaining on so many levels…"

"You mean like play Arthur-kun as a trump card?" Itori asked "that would be interesting, that guy reminds me so much like the emotionless but logical Sherlock Holmes that it would be fun to see him crumble, like bring up old pasts? Destroy a loved one?"

"Not right away of course" Souta chuckled putting his hand on his chin while the other rested on his hip in a flamboyant way "We must do this slowly and carefully we need to build up the tension and let Kaneki know his rival"

"Oh you've cheered me up already ready!" Roma laughed clapping her hands together with joy "I want to see that snobby Brit burst into tears! You know he laughed when poor Ali complained to Washuu about her entering arrangements? Like he thought that ghouls were only good to enter building from a rubbish dump!"

"Don't get to close to your prey Roma…" Souta remained the girl gently, Roma looked a little shocked if not disheartened but the Clown had said nothing. Souta pulled out a large A4 sized package from his coat pocket and threw it towards Roman who caught it in two hands.

"You can't do it tonight but this is certain information Kaneki requested yesterday" Souta explained "Ensure that the half-ghoul gets it buy tomorrow night and that it is given to him in privet"

"Seriously?!" Roma cried out childishly "Don't you think that I have enough to do playing human and an investigator?! And now you want me to go all the way to the 11th ward for a delivery like some errand girl?!"

"Ro-chan, Ro-chan" Itori cooed pushing the angry Roma back down to sit beside her "You are doing a very important job for us, I mean look at all the information we have now thanks to you this will all be worth it in the end!"

Roma smiled a bit at the woman's words and nodded suddenly feeling a lot better. She took a closer look at the package then looked up towards Souta and Uta. "What information is Kaneki interested in anyway?" She asked and Uta smiled,

"He wanted more knowledge on the girl that escaped the CCG the other day, Athena…She's back working for Aogiri now and she's with Kaneki-kun in the 11th ward"

"Oh…I see" Roma smirked "ok then….I will make sure this goes to Kaneki but I don't want to miss anything exciting ok?"

"Don't worry Roma-chan" Souta said with a creepy smiled behind his clown mask "you won't miss a thing"

Xxx

On a normal night the 14th ward would be busy with nightlife, it was the place where both humans and ghouls would come to party, hook up and of course get drunk so crime rate was quite high in this area and of course attracted police but usually there wouldn't be much CCG however since the incident yesterday the place had white coat men and woman ghosting around the streets and roads but lucky for the QS this didn't shop the bars and clubs from opening their doors and it certainly didn't stop the youth and adults having a good time so it was easy for Kaneko and his group to mix in with the crowd.

"Are you sure this was the best idea Al, will Arthur really come?" Kaneko could help but ask nervously, though he was wearing make-up and a wig it might not completely fool the highly skilled investigators but he was more worried for Hinami and Athena. While the boys had dressed up as girls Hinami and Athena (minus Saiko) had dressed as boys. They manged to get a hold of some chest binders and boyish clothes. Athena, who had to most difficultly due to her long hair had it hidden under a baseball cap, she wore jeans that looked too big and baggy for her, she also wore a red jumper and insisted that she be called Al.

"You worry too much!" Al laughed patting Kaneko on the shoulder "He will come and then we can watch them without them recognising us".

"I can't believe after what happened yesterday people are still coming, are they stupid?" Shirazu….well, Shirazo asked looking a little annoyed. Kaneko had fixed his make-up quite nicely and looked less like a clown and more like a woman.

"Well that's people for you, remember this used to happen all the time after a ghoul attack and people will carry on like its nothing" Mutsuki remained Shirazo gently. Athena to Mutsuki's shock had got him a white dress and black cardigan which was very similar to the outfit Mutsuki wore during the auction raid. Shirazu tutted the turned his head around to check everyone else, Saiko walked behind him leisurely unworried, even though she was the only one with not much of a disguise.

Besides her was Hinami…or Hino who looked like some young male protagonist from a fighting anime. She was easy to make look like a boy due to her short hair which was gelled up and spikey and in the air as if it had a mind of its own. She wore boyish shorts, boots, a large green t-shirt and a red and yellow hoodie. Kaneko and the others had worried that she look too much like a 12 year old school boy to get into the clubs but when Al said The Encounter had a habit of serving minors without IDs they stopped worrying, at least she didn't look recognisable…And then there was Seidou Takizawa following awkwardly behind who was certainly the least recognisable, the whole group had to double look once Athena, Hinami and Naki presented him to the group.

Seidou's once snowy white hair was now a dark shade of brown, very similar to his old colour but darker and richer and since it was quite long in length (Athena promised to cut it once the night was over) the parting of his hair was changed which was moved from the middle of his head to the left side of his head creating a long fringe on side of his face, he even had dark hair extensions to help change his appearance more. His eyebrows had been drawn on like they had been when he was human and he wore dark Goth like make up with black eyeshadow and eyeliner with red lips and a little blusher on his cheeks to give his pale complexion some life. He wore a knee length red skirt, black turtle neck and a short white jacket which looked very stylish. He was almost like a different person.

Soon enough the group had come to the front entrance of The Encounter, it seemed that this place was very popular with young people. It was bustling with all types of people from men and woman from teenagers to the oldest being around their 30s dancing around in their party clothes, chatting, drinking, snogging…over all just having a good time however for the ghouls that had entered they weren't getting the happy vibe that everyone else was getting. Once they entered the music blasted though their ears, Hinami and Al cringed but Kaneko was able to shut it out and was glad that his hearing wasn't as developed. The half-ghoul looked over towards the QS and Seidou, the other half-ghoul looked more pale than normal and looked a little jumpy but that looked like it was due to nerves more than anything.

Looking towards the QS Saiko looked the most fascinated and existed by what was going on around her however Mutsuki was looking very shy and uncomfortable and Shirazo looked as pale as Seidou did.

"So this is where people go these days for fun?" Kaneko couldn't help but mumble feeling a little overwhelmed by the cluster of humans, sounds and smell around the room, he hadn't had to deal with this pressure since he worked for the college and even then it wasn't that bad.

"It look's kinda fun" Saiko commented, who seemed to be the only one enjoying herself.

"I'm getting people sick…" Shirazo moaned wearily turning towards Kaneko and Athena who were standing side by side "Neki-san, Al-san have you been to places like this before?"

"All the time when I was running from the Doves and jumping from one ward to the other" Al commented proudly "But I can never get use to the loud music though"

"I've only been once when Hide dragged me there during my university years" Kaneko commented remembering from a couple of years back "Let's just say he never took me to a club again…" Kaneko remembered some guy who insulted him for knocking his drink over so instead of walking away like Hide wanted him too, it ended with the drunk guy getting half his teeth knocked out and a possible a broken nose….Kaneki was forbidden from entering that bar again.

"Anyway…" Shirazu started again "Ain't we a bit outta place here?"

"Hey Shii, you have to sound more feminine" Kaneko scolded but he could see Shirazu's point, they were to nicely dressed for a club like this and the boy's, Shirazo certainly was a bit too tall.

"But there's no girl this big around here!" Shirazo shouted looking slightly panicked,

"Just think of yourself as a tall girl" Saiko said smiling cheekily, obviously enjoying herself.

"Errr but, isn't the difference between me and Tooru too big!" Shirazu gestured to Mutsuki who was smiling nervously.

"Well I'm sorry" Kaneko teased, who was the person who helped Shirazo and Mutsuki look like girls in the first place however Shirazo's make-up was a lot heavier than Mutsuki's who didn't need much work done at all "It's easier to work with a subject of higher quality" Kaneko really loved teasing his students too much, more than Kaneki actually…

"Ignore Kaneko…" Athena said butting into to conversation with a sly smile spread across her face "Instead of teasing the person who had trouble dressing himself lets tease the man who could apply make-up and walk in high heels with ease…"

"Yeah Neki-san!" Shirazo jeered "You dressed yourself, who the fuck are you?!"

"Oh don't be so whiny…I'm Kaneko now but you can call me big sister if you want?" Kaneko was taking over….

"Ok onee-chan!" Hino saluted in his broken up boyish voice,

"Hell no" Shirazo crossed her arms and turned away in annoyance with a scowl across his face while everyone else just laughed however they weren't here for fun. Athena had got information from a source that Arthur Reed comes to this bar every so often so without wasting another day the group decided to investigate tonight however despite Kaneko co-operation and banter he was curious on why Athena wouldn't name the source of the information and it made him even more desperate for background details but for now Kaneko will play along…

"Anyway" Hino started talking this time snapping Kaneko out of his thoughts "What time is Naki coming?"

"He said he was still getting ready" Seidou answered, how had been quite for most of the time, Kaneko nearly forgot he was there "He said he wanted to make this big entrance so we might not see him for a while…"

"Seriously" Kaneko sighed in annoyance "what part of 'investigation' does he not understand?" Kaneko could only imagen the worst.

"Well you know what Naki is like, once he had an idea that's it" Athena answered with a shrug "let's just hope we can spot Arthur Reed or his CCG friends before that white suite drama queen comes in"

They nodded in agreement and the group decided to spilt into pairs to cover more ground, Mutsuki with Kaneko while Athena, Hino and Seidou were a three and finally Saiko was with Shirazo.

So with the team sorted they became their investigation.

Xxx

Once Daniel and Adrianne left Re Touka, Hide and Yomo had set of to the train station and brought a ticket to the 10th ward. Because of the state of the 11th ward the train station was closed down in that area and since Aogiri left no one wanted to go back so there was no point in having a train run though there again so once they got off at the 10th ward they would have to walk rest of the way. Hide didn't mind this even as he watched the sun set from the train window, summer was ending and the short days of autumn where started to set in but he was not afraid, he had Tokyo and Yomo along with his mask and quinque in his pocket. He was going to be fine.

Hide already had Yomo and Touka up to speed on what Shuu had told him and despite Shuu's warning of not going to the 11th ward he and the two decided that they couldn't wait so they were going to check it out for themselves.

They stopped at the train station closet to the 11th ward which was unfortunately for the trio was a 20 minute walk, it was then Yomo asked the question that Hide hoped wouldn't be asked.

"What do we do if we actually see Ken?" Yomo asked "approach him?"

"Well it would be a waste of time if we didn't" Hide answered and then felt bad for the snide comment.

"It would depend what type of company he has with him" Touka said surely, Hide didn't say anything but he knew that the Rabbit ghoul had a good point. If Kaneki was working with Aogiri to protect his old friends then it would be an insult to the half-ghoul if they made themselves known to Aogiri.

Finally, after their silent walk they arrived at the edge of the 11th ward, Hide didn't need the road sign to tell him that he noticed the crowds of people getting thinner and the buildings where becoming to look even more untidy and abandoned as they moved further and further away from the 10th ward.

"This place has been left to the dogs" Touka couldn't help but comment as they stopped outside an old school, it was small and Hide could see the faint white marks on the ground behind the iron fence which must have been the playground.

"Ok" Touka turned to the two men as she pulled her rabbit mask from her pocket "This could be the best time to put on masks, Hide get your quinque ready because we don't know what we are going to be facing in this ward and it might be possible that hostile ghouls could be surrounding the area"

"So it looks like Aogiri is the least of our worries" Hide mumbled as he slid on his mask of spades which he was becoming even more used to wearing. He remembered four months ago during the auction raid that he felt uncomfortable wearing the mask because he had to hide his identity and it made him feel like a ghoul but after what had happened he had to use the mask increasingly more to get around the ghoul habited areas and he now saw the mask as more useful than anything and it had given him the nickname 'Ace of Spades'.

Yomo sild on his old bird like mask and with Touka leading the way as they began their search and it made sense to start at Aogiri's old 11th Ward Base.

Xxx

It took a while for Naki to finally leave, since the rest of the group had taken the eight seater Naki was forced to call a taxi which would be very expensive since most taxi drivers wouldn't be brave or stupid enough to pick someone up from the war torn ward but Urie couldn't care any less about Naki's expenses because he was worrying about his own situation.

Chie Hori wanted something that Ken Kaneki always wears which would be his black jacket which he had left handing up in the shop's old office. However he felt nervous and was starting to question himself because wouldn't Kaneki realise tomorrow morning (or even when he came back) that his jacket was missing and being the only one at the scene Urie would get the blame?

He tried thinking of something else such as a piece of underwear or a t-shirt or maybe he could give Chie one of his own things instead since he and Kaneki had the same taste in clothes but then this Chie didn't look like an idiot and probably stalked the powerful half-ghoul…maybe his meeting with Dr Kanou would be his alibi….he silently thanked Naki and his idiot personality for getting him Kanou's number and a boat which would be coming to pick him up at seven so couldn't waste much time.

He grabbed the back jacket from its hook and stuffed it into his backpack which also held a pack on quinque knifes, water and some snacks he had swiped from the squad's shopping bags because who knew what could happen on Rue Island and with all those Aogiri guards running about.

He quickly left the building after realising that he was expected to be at the beach in five minutes. Urie left in a hurry not realising that he was being watched by a masked group of three standing around the side of the shop watching Urie from the shadows.

Xxx

It had been hit and miss for Hide, Touka and Yomo. While heading towards the 11th ward base the group had stopped to talk to some of the ghouls and homeless humans that lived here if they had seen any Aogiri member or if any newcomer had come to the ward but most of them just ran away or tried to take a bite into Hide's leg (and wasn't even the ghouls) but the more peaceful and politer ones said they didn't know because it was a big ward and people mostly come and go or didn't bother to make themselves known so the group just carried on feeling a little disheartened until they found themselves nearing a small abandoned shop, it was then Yomo reacted.

"Get back!" he whispered harshly pulling Hide and Touka back against the wall of the building for the front door of the shop to open by none other than Kiku Urie.

"Wait, that's not…?" Hide whispered as he watched Urie's back,

"Urie" Touka mumbled, they head heard about Urie from Nishio and also from Kaneki when he still worked in the college. So if the purple haired Quinx is here that would mean Kaneki and Hinami might be here also but then why was Urie on his own? It didn't matter, it was a start and that's all what mattered.

"let's follow him" Hide mumbled and no one protested at Hide set off keeping his eyes on the Quinx and keeping his feet light and ensuring he stayed to the shadows which was surprisingly easy since the 11th ward was nothing but a cluster of old buildings and the streetlights has run out of power years ago, the human felt Touka and Yomo closely behind him and he suddenly felt reassured by their presence.

They manged to follow Urie without problems and if the Quinx sensed them he gave no indication that he knew. They followed for a few minutes until they came to the 11th ward base and the building looked as trashy as Touka and Yomo remembered it but luckily Urie walked right past the building, Urie seemed to be heading towards the beach.

"If he goes to the beach it will make it harder to follow him" Touka whispered but luckily the land and the beach was separated by a tall stone seawall so the area wouldn't be hit by floods, maybe this could be used to their advantage.

They watched Urie walked down the stone steps towards the beach, the trio waited until he was out of sight then moved towards the wall so they could look down onto the beach where Hide noticed a small speed boat bobbing up and down on the waves which was strange, what crazy person would go sailing in the dark towards a Ward which people thought was cursed?

As the boat came closer Hide noticed that the driver was wearing a dark hood and cape. Hide couldn't tell the colour but he wouldn't be surprised if it was Aogiri red. Urie stood on the beach facing the boat as the boat came nearer to the shore Urie walked into the waves helping the boat pull to a stop so he could climb on. The boatman and Urie exchanged a few words, from this distance it looked like Urie was communicating with Hades ferryman himself and that Urie was going to be carried along the river Styx without a fight.

The two suddenly speed away from the shore and the trio could no longer follow.

Xxx

Meanwhile in The Encounter Mutsuki was weaving his way thought the crowds of people keeping his eyes out for Arthur Reed or anyone that looked like an investigator but all he saw was drunk adults and men sending Mutsuki strange looks, it sent a shiver down his spine. The gaze of a male….Its felt disgusting…

"Mucchan" a soft feminine but deep voce said his name with a gentle hand pat on his shoulder. Mutsuki turned to see Kaneko smiling and winking at him, the half-ghoul had been quite so far that Mutsuki forgot he was there.

"It's okay, you're cute" Kaneko encouraged but Mutsuki blinked at him in surprise and stared at him blankly. Although Mutsuki felt touched and his spirits lifted a little due to those words whether he was cute nor not wasn't the problem. However he didn't correct his mentor, he was too embarrassed…

Soon enough the duo had joined up with Shirazo however he was on his own,

"Hey, where's Saiko?" Kaneko asked the tall 'girl' and Shirazo just shrugged and pocked his thumb behind him where a crowd of people were dancing to some kind of tribute rock band.

"Dancing" He said not looking very happy about it and Kaneko couldn't blame him, this was an investigation after all.

"I'll go and get her" Mutsuki spoke hurriedly moving towards the dance floor to find the blue haired Quinx jamming to the music far to the right. Kaneko turned back to Shirazo,

"Have you found Reed?" He asked but to his disappointment Shirazo shook his head,

"No, not even investigators" he groaned moving towards one of the table and chairs and slumped down on the hard cheap wooden chair and Kaneko followed suit "I've even bumped into the other three but they have seen nothing" There was pause and Kaneko watched as Shirazo sat in thought.

"What's up" Kaneko asked friendlily hoping that his students would trust him enough to share his thoughts.

"Well…" Shirazo started crossing his arms and not looking directly at his mentor "I think your being too easy on Saiko…Is there a reason for that?"

Kaneko stared at Shirazo shocked that this conversation was even being brought up at a time like this.

"Saiko is…" Kaneko started turned his eyes to his lap and this time it was Shirazo's eyes on him "You see…not long after starting Aogiri I requested to get more background on you lot" Kaneko watched Shirazo's face turn to one of horror and astonishment but Kaneko smiled and shook his head "Don't worry I didn't learn anything about you that I didn't know already, Saiko however…her mother took her kids with her when she left her husband's house. Her mother started a snack bar with the support of her lover but its looks like it didn't go well…" Shirazo leaned forward more across the table as he watched his mentors eyes drift off into space as they usually did when he was storytelling, Kaneko continued.

"Saiko and her brother joined the CCG's junior school academy which has a cheap tuition, looking at her scores I got from Provider it seems that she didn't want to become an investigator, I'm sure your aware since you were in her class?"

"Yeah" Shirazu nodded "She always brought her games to class, the teacher scolded her for that often"

"However she was put under Mado's squad" Kaneko continued "She wanted to take in some new investigators to train, it was thought that since Saiko's academic tests where so bad they thought a practical exam under Akira would be best, of course she did enough to past but it wasn't excellent but when Saiko's mum found out that money was involved Saiko was forced to join the CCG. And now she is focused to work under some other group that is even more scary than the CCG itself so I just want to give her a break and I want to give you all a break" This got Shirazo bolting up in surprise, there was now a small sad smile on Kaneko voice has he spoke, finally the one-eyed ghoul looked up at Shirazo.

"You all became a part of some messed up experiment without intending to, just like me so I know what's it's like for you lot and looking at Saiko's life who's decisions always seems to be made up for her, she's unmotivated"

"It seems havin' parents doesn't mean you will be happy" Shirazo looked back at the dancers where, Mutsuki was trying to cox Saiko out of the dance floor however Saiko kept pulling Mutsuki towards her into a dance which it seemed that Mutsuki was enjoying. "She's the only one who has parents close by even though they think she's dead…Urie's parents are not around and Tooru's family was killed by ghouls and you know about my dad, my mum might be out there somewhere but we are all working so hard despite everything! She's a lot better off than anyone else!"

"I suppose" Kaneko turned away,

"No shit" Shirazo snapped turned away keeping his eyes on the drunk dancers, right now Saiko had Mutsuki in some type of playful waltz which didn't match the music at all. He thought about parents and Kaneki…what type of parents did the half-ghoul have? He knew that they both must have been human, his father died before the half-ghoul could remember and his mother died when he was a little boy and then he lived with his neglectful bitch of an aunt but Shirazo knew no other information than that. The half-ghoul didn't really like talking about his childhood or about his life before becoming a teacher.

But just then something caught his eye, Shirazo turned his head suddenly where a man with brown and blond hair, bright green eyes and wearing the clothes that made him look like some type of rock star. The was the same man who kidnaped Urie…Arthur Reed leaning his back against the wall staring behind Kaneko's back. Kaneko noticed the flabbergasted look on his student,

"Shii-chan, are you ok?" He asked worriedly and the shark teethed Quinx locked eyes with the half-ghoul.

"Don't look but I think I see our target" Shirazo nodded behind Kaneko's shoulder and it was a struggle not to turn his own head to where his students was indicating. Kaneko nodded,

"Inform the others" The half-ghoul ghoul said standing up from his seat.

"Where are you going?!" Shirazo asked almost panicky but Kaneki smiled, it was meant to be reassuring but to Shirazo it looked like a smirk.

"I'm going to confront him"

Xxx

While all her little toys where busy Eto wasn't there to witness it because she was sat in the front seat of a moving car where her trusted pet Noro was in the driver's seat and a foolishly naïve human woman sat in the back.

"Are we there yet?" Mimi asked, they had been driving for over two hours and the human was starting to get bored. The only thing that kept her entertained was the thought of what the future had installed for her. She will live out the rest of her life without work or stress, she was going to live in a country house with a nice garden and hopefully will be walking distance from a hot spring.

"We're nearly there" Eto answered innocently pointing to the window "Look we are out of Tokyo now, you can see all those pretty fields and old trees around us"

This kept Mimi quite for the next 10 minutes until they pulled to a stop at an open field and Mimi blinked in confusion.

"What's this?" asked puzzled with no hint of suspicion or worry in her voice "I don't see any houses?"

"They are just up ahead" Eto pointed out towards the field which slopped up into a hill "Keep going up and you will see a small village lit up, the house with the red door with number 13 is yours"

Mimi's eyes widened in excitement and large smile crept on her face.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mimi thanked Eto repeatedly forgetting it was Eto's fault that she had gotten into this mess in the first place.

Eto waved her off with a grinning smile behind her bandages "it's no trouble, you've worked hard enjoy the rest of your life"

Mimi grinned enthusiastically and climbed out the car and without a backwards glance Mimi ran off across the field with a childish skip in her step. Eto watched as the woman was nothing more but a dark shape over the field and turned back to Noro.

"Send the text" Eto ordered with no emotion in her voice "Shikorae has waited long enough"

Noro nodded, in hand was the phone and the text was already typed out all Noro had to do was press the send button. Eto only had to wait ten seconds until the shrill screaming of the woman who had been so full of childlike hope and joy was crying out in pain and anguish as her fat flesh meat was being tore apart from its owner and entered Shikorae's bony stomach. Eto leaned back and smiled in content closing her eyes as he let her hearing expand so she could enjoy the sound of bones breaking like twigs and the snapping sound of flesh being torn apart, the type of sound an apple makes when its smashed.

Half an hour later Shikorae was running up across the field towards the car. Eto sat unstartled as the terrifying ghoul climbed into the car and into the seat where Mimi once sat.

"Sorry for the mess" Shikorae smirked but he didn't sound sorry at all, of course now the blood of Mimi smeared the seats and bits of flesh were still clinging to Shikorae's clothes.

"It's ok, we were going to dump this car anyway" Eto said brightly pulling out a book from her pocket.

"Noro. Drive"

 **Note: Shame, I didn't get to say everything I wanted to in this chapter up I'm in no rush. To be honest I wasn't going to put Saiko's story on here but I felt that it tied up how the QS got to work under Mado. I wasn't even going to put the Mutsuki bit up but I felt that it was important since we saw what happen in Re's latest chapter. If you've not noticed this chapter is based of chapter 20 of Re.**

 **Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter your comments make me happy, you guys make my day! In fact I'm going to be posting a new Omake soon, now I know I promised a Valentines Omake I wrote half of it but I didn't like where it was going so I wrote a new one called 'The History' and it's were I give brief details on the CCG, USGEP and BCGM in fact it might be up later in week. I also want to do another omake where Kaneki tries to help Shirazu with his makeup and Seidou's transformation.**

 **Next chapter we have Kaneki and Arthur, including Urie and doctor Kanou and shit going down with the Re gang.**

 **Till next time.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	44. Omake 2: The History

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Omake 2: The History**

Note: Hi people! I know I promised that the next omake would be a valentines one, I wrote half of it but I didn't like how it was going so I might get back onto it later but anyway with the way Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Path is heading I thought I would do some basic summarizes of the different agencies in the story. I tried to keep it historically accurate as I could and if I have wrote something wrong don't be shy to correct me. This talks about the CCG, USGEP and the BCGM so basically it will have a little of Japanese, American and British history, if you have any requests for an omake or there is some information I have missed just let me know

Also! May 14 is a special date because it means that Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Path will be turning 1 year old! God is it that long…I will to get the next chapter out on this date if not after because to celebrate the fanfiction the 44th chapter will be a double length! So look forward to that but for now the omake…

 **CCG:**

 **Brief History:** The Commission of Counter Ghoul was foundered by Daikichi Washuu in the year 1890 and was originated in Japan. It is the very first organisation that was created to kill and imprison ghouls to protect the city of Tokyo and the country. The organisation has completed many achievements and discovered many revolutionary information on ghouls and RC cells that have not only helped the human race put up a fight against ghouls but helped medical science and hospitals to discover cures for many illness and cancers. They have also created the latest weapons and have the most up to date technogy to fight ghoul activity and has succeed even the United States in creating many types of Quinque (e.g Quinque armour) and creating a RC suppressants and RC gates including the new RCCD1 (Red Child Cells Detector).

 **Present Day:** In Japan ghouls are not classed as citizens and if discovered the CCG is free to kill or imprison that ghoul without legal proceedings or rights whether they have done a crime or not. If caught alive the ghoul will be imprisoned in Cochlea or Corniculum, in there they would be used for information or have their kakuhou used to harvest quinque steel however once they are deemed no longer useful they will be executed.

The CCG also work in partnership with the other countries that make up the majority or Asia. They also work closely with a few western countries such as Germany.

 **USGEP:**

 **Brief History:** The United States Ghoul Enforcement Program was foundered in the United States of America in the year 2000 by David Cysices. Since the beginning of the CCG and when Japan opened its boarders to the western countries the US (like majority of western countries) were mostly unaware and ignorant of the existence of ghouls and didn't understand how to deal the increasing death rates of cannibalism and sights of human looking creatures with monstrous limbs on their backs. The blame was first put on the Native Americans as they were feared for their supposed spiritual practices however once Japan opened up its gates and knowledge the western countries learned more about ghouls and suddenly they weren't seen as something spiritual or supernatural but instead looked at it at a more scientific way.

For years the United States has tried to compete with Japan on understanding ghouls and how to annihilate the threat but this didn't help as every other country was having this increasing problem. Once the creation the quinque proved to be humanities hope the US started to create their own versions of this weapon which inspired the creation of quinque bullets and even the Kakuja Quinque. However with the increase of population and lack of ghoul investigators protecting each state the war against ghouls was beginning the overwhelm the nation until the Government had to look at the situation from a new angle as they realised they lacked the man power and resources to do the job.

This was until the year 1990 when the young David Cysices, whose parents where close friends with the president at the time, Ronald Reagan, discovered that his best friend since childhood was a ghoul and using his parents fortune and power in Government along with his parents close relationship with the president was able to convince the American government to create a new system (which will later be known as the USGEP) where they could use the kinder and more human like ghouls to their advantage to help imprison the ghouls (and even humans) that want to cause harm or can't control themselves.

 **Present Day:** It took ten years for this to made into a stable and accepted system, training camps had to made for both ghoul and human recruits, new law enforcements and suitable food had to be made to sustain the ghouls hunger but it was worth it as crime and death rates dropped rapidly and people were no longer worried about the existence of ghouls or able to identify one and any death caused by a ghoul would be blamed on a serial killer.

To help the training camps and the USGEP officers know which investigator is a ghoul and which is a human the ghouls are made to wear black jackets while the humans wear white and carry quinque suitcases.

When creating squads and teams the USGEP tries to have an even amount of ghouls and humans however this proved to be difficult since only 30% of investigators are humans, the rest of the humans who work for the USGEP are scientists, teachers, secretaries or therapists for recently captured ghouls so it's rare to have a group with an even number of each species….

The rules differ with each state when it comes to enforcing violent ghouls but the basic rules are the same. If can capture the ghoul who's causing the problem however if the ghoul cannot be supressed with RC depressants, negotiation nor can't be tired out with violence then the investigators have a right to kill ghoul and the kagune can be used to make quinque.

Ghouls who are imprisoned must undergo 10 weeks of therapy and if working the therapy will be carried on until that ghoul can be deemed safe to be let out back into society with weekly check-up to the nearest USGEP office however if a ghoul makes no process within the those 10 weeks of therapy they can be put on trial within a courtroom where the ghoul can appeal for not guilty and evidence against the ghoul is presented. If found guilty, depending on the state and crime, the ghoul will be imprisoned and executed or just be left imprisoned but sometimes the ghoul can be executed on the same day as the trial.

 **BCGM:**

 **Brief History:** British Counter Ghoul Measurement was foundered in 2003 in Great Britain and Northern Island after the success on America's USGEP and basically follows the general rules of the USGEP but has its own system and way of dealing with ghouls however before then Britain was falling behind on the battle against ghouls and it could have been worse since Britain is the country with the lowest ghoul rating compared to Spain and France. However the low percentage of ghouls in the area is due to its long bloody history, in fact the relationship between ghouls and the British people can be traced back until medieval times.

By the end of the 5th century the church including the King himself believed ghouls to be demons sent from hell to punish evil or trick humans in to doing bad deeds. They were also seen as restless spirts that couldn't pass on however in some places (mainly Scotland) said that they were cursed fairies or pixies that have lost their magic or did evil deeds and were rejected from their clan and it's not surprising why they thought this since the Ukaku ghoul's wing like kagune made them mistaken for angles or good fairy's and unfortunately this worked in the Ukaku ghouls favour as they were able to lure naïve children or foolish men to their demise.

However that thinking started to change around 16th century when the witch trials where taking place over Europe where around 200,000 innocent women were drowned, tortured, brunt and hanged. Ghouls were said to be the familiars of witches, doing their evil biddings and spying for the witches. If a woman was found communicating with some a possible ghoul it would be evidence against them in the witch trial when in reality the woman would feel sorry for the ghoul who would mean no harm or wouldn't know if that person they talked to was a ghoul in the first place. However despite arresting these innocent woman the ghouls were never found or caught making people think that the familiar abandons the witch when she is no use.

Eventually the witch trials stopped and ghouls where now seen as some kind of animalistic being or a mutation however since ghouls where so much stronger than the humans it made it almost impossible to find out the truth but that didn't stop them making traps, luring ghouls out with human flesh or blood or try to fight them but even if they did manged to trap a ghoul it wouldn't take long before that ghoul escaped and anyone who dare fight the ghoul ended up missing or dead with few alive to tell the tale.

Once the CCG was founded in Japan, Great Britain was one of the first countries to jump on the opportunity and for a while the CCG helped protect the country from ghouls by giving out information and techniques. However once Japan joined the Axis in WW2 that support stopped but ghouls were becoming the least of the worries making it easy for the ghouls to breed and get dead bodies from the German attacks and anyone that was hunted for food was taken as a being caught up in the air raid and with the man power that was needed for war effort it made it harder to train investigators and most of the investigators who already worked became soldiers.

After WW2 was over the thought of ghouls where almost forgotten by the public and the United Nations where coming up of ways of destroying the ghouls which were left alone during the war. Quinques where being made and investigators were being trained but it was still a difficult job keeping the ghouls at bay and not much process was being made however once the US came up with the idea of using the ghouls to help the human race in 1990 most countries just laughed and Britain was one of them however after the success of the USGEP in the year 2000 Britain was one of the first countries to copy this way of thinking and three years later BCGM was founded, becoming independent from the CCG.

The BCGM works in a similar fashion as the USGEP however they execute ghouls that can't be tamed in a year of imprisonment. Also unlike USGEP and the CCG you can have Detective Investigators who are licenced to capture ghouls independently and are paid depending on the amount of ghouls they kill and the ghoul's rating. The Detective Investigators is a system that most investigators like get on because it means that you follow your own orders and work your own hours however only the most skilled and experienced can get on this system.

Fin


	45. Takizawa Arc: Fire! Fire! P1

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 19: Fire! Fire!**

 **Part 1**

Arthur didn't like these types of places, they were too loud and more crowded than necessary. He didn't understand the joy of making yourself look stupid on the dance floor, or getting drunk on small bitterly strong shots that did not taste nice at all and nor did he care for the flirty girls and men trying to buy him drinks so when he felt a friendly light tap on his shoulder he was ready to turn to the person and tell them politely to get lost but that was until he recognised the persons face. He had seen that face many times in Akira's endless stacks of files but this person's face was covered in make-up and he was wearing a blond shoulder length wig and wearing a nice knee length dress that made his muscular male body look more feminine. Ken Kaneki stood there holding a cocktail in his hand for Arthur to take.

"Why hello" Kaneki spoke in a soft sly voice that would make any guy who didn't know any better shiver "What's a big bad investigator like you doing an in place like this? I don't see any ghouls around here"

"On the contrary madam" Arthur smirked "but you never know when or where such creatures could appear, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if there was one in this very building…"

The half-ghoul smiled back as he let Arthur take the glass from is hand, his mind was already working at top speed… he was finally getting to the bottom of this.

Xxx

It was long cold boat ride for Urie and the Quinx was wishing he had brought a warmer coat but luckily he manged to get to Rue Island without getting frostbite. The boatman who had been mumbling complaints about the cold trips he had to do lead him inside the base but instead of taking Urie to the Doctor's lab he took him though a more direct route towards a small office.

Urie could tell that this office was used a lot more than the one in the 18th ward. There were a number of skeleton x-ray scans hanging on the walls including bookshelves and old awards Kanou got in university or when he worked in hospitals across the world which Urie was sure wouldn't mean much if the Doctor presented them now, he was wanted criminal after all. However sitting behind a large nicely polished desk with a sparkly new computer was the old devil himself, Dr Kanou sitting on his comfortable leather chair looking far more at home that he did in the 18th ward.

"Ahh Urie" The doctor greeted the Quinx with a fake doctor like smile, he stood up from his seat and rounded his desk to shake Urie's hand "I'm sure popular today, it nice of you to drop by"

Urie shook Kanou's firm hand making a mental note to wash it later and forced a smile "My apologies, but I'm not here for a social visit" however Kanou looked unoffended by the words but more like interested.

"Why of course" The doctor said nodding and went back behind his desk, Urie sat on the chair opposite him "It must be about the QS surgery if you are coming to see me. Is there something wrong with your kagune or are you feeling sick?"

"On the contrary doctor everything is fine, I was wondering if there was a way to make my kagune stronger?" Urie watched as Kanou's face twisted is fake surprise, there was no way the doctor couldn't be expecting this….

"Strengthen your kagune?" Kanou questioned "Like Kaneki-kun?"

"Yeah" Urie nodded.

"Well…certainly you the squad leader and Shirazu…" Kanou started but Urie interrupted.

"Shirazu is now the squad leader" Urie said, his voice strained as he remembered how Kaneki gave his title to that shark toothed freak, he wondered if the old geezer was doing it on purpose.

"Oh how rude of me" The doctor smile apologetically and turned to his monitor "It appears that you and the squad leader have both mastered you kagune so I understand that you're looking for more power so let me explain about the biology you guys have again"

Urie sighed leaning back against his chair, he had heard all this before but listened anyway.

"The Quinckes Surgery is based on the successful surgery I performed on your mentor all those years ago but the main difference is that it is applied to the manufacture of a quinque. Instead of just putting the kagune into you guys like I did with Kaneki your Kakuhou's are coated in quinque steel. The implanted kakuhou has a frame with five levels to regulate the operational limits of the kakuhou decreasing the risk efficiently and we can keep an eye on the progress. Currently everyone's gate is set on frame 2 and the kakuhou's operational requirement is 40%"

"So in other words…" Urie interrupted "If one were to increase the frame's level a more powerful kagune could be used"

"I don't recommend it though" Kanou said turning back to Urie and the Quinx couldn't help but glare at the doctor's words. Kanou maybe be saying that now as if he were a moralist however what about that risky experiment he did on Ken Kaneki five years ago and the Floppy's he is still creating and being fed to the Provider when they fail? Kanou only wants praise for the work that has been failing for so many years, plus Aogiri wouldn't tolerate failure.

So far over 1000 people have been victim to Kanou's experiments and only Seidou and Kaneki were successful. The Quinx couldn't really be called half-ghouls and there is still a chance for it to go wrong but Urie was confident…he won't die.

"Kaneki is not a loyal soldier Doctor Kanou" Urie spoke quietly "He has no loyalty to the One Eyed King or what this group stands for, he is only here for his own purposes"

"Don't you think me and the higher up already know that?" Kanou questioned with an amused look on his face "So what is you point Urie-kun?"

"Well Seidou hasn't been his best for months and is unlikely to go back to psychopathic killer he once was and all the other of the Qs seem to be on Kaneki's side me however have Aogiri's best interests at heart and that means going through with Quinckes Surgery"

"This is interesting" Kanou said leaning forward resting his chin on his hands "But why would you of all people want to help Aogiri, I heard the One-eyed king killed your father"

"The One-Eyed King killed a lot of men on that night" Urie answered back sharply wishing that the doctor hadn't brought up his father "But if we keep living in the past and wanting revenge then it stops us from processing forwards and unable learn from others mistakes this is why we are in this war now so I plan to devote myself it Aogiri's cause and become their weapon"

"So…Like a dog?" Kanou asked smiling and Urie smiled back,

"If the king told me to bark then I will bark, if the king tells me to heel then I will heel" Kanou seemed to like Urie's answer as the Doctor nodded and pulled himself from his chair to one of his cabinets.

"I recommend that you talk to Kaneki-kun about this" The doctor said and pulling out a piece of paper "This form I'm going to hand you is to reminded Kaneki-kun about how the Quinckes Surgery works and you need to get him sign his name on the dotted line saying you are ready to handle the extra power. Your mentor has a pretty nasty temper and cares for you deeply so he would get mad if something wrong happens and he won't know about it"

"Yes sir, thank you sir" Urie stood up and bowed taking the letter for Kaneki to sign not feeling very hopeful.

Xxx

Athena was silently panicking to herself, although everything was going to plan, she saw Kaneki and Arthur walk out of the club together but she had lost Seidou and Hinami in the mess of people. Saiko and Mutsuki seemed to have got side-tracked and where now enjoying themselves on the dancefloor with a group of strange girls. She suddenly felt a little better when she saw Shirazu hurriedly making his way towards her looking worried.

"Hey Al!" Shirazu spoke once he got close to the girl "did you see Neki-san and Reed just now?!"

"Yeah but don't worry" Athena reassured "Your mentor can handle himself however I am more worried about the rest of us, its unlikely Reed came on his own so keep an eye out for other investigators"

"Ok" Shirazu nodded but then he blinked just noticing something "Hey…where is Seidou-san and Hinami-chan?"

"I don't know" Athena shook her head worriedly, in truth she was very worried about the missing duo "They might not even know that CCG might already be here and the crowd of people doesn't help"

"I will keep an eye out" Shirazu said "Maybe they went to the toilet or went out to get air or something, they won't be used to these types of places you know"

"Maybe" Athena nodded however before she could think about it any further she noticed some of the people around her had stopped and where turning their heads towards the entrance. Shirazu and Athena followed their lead and suddenly they wished they hadn't because walking though the entrance was a really tall high heeled 'woman', she wore a long blond Hollywood wig, black eyeshadow and eyeliner making her eyes look huge but what really made her stand out was the sparkly tight Barbie pink dress made her hip look rounder and her waist thinner and the thing was this Shirazu and Athena knew that this 'woman' wasn't a woman….

"Naki…." Athena growled, what part of 'blending in' or 'not getting noticed' did that ghoul not understand and where did he get a dress like that anyway?

Naki then turned his head and noticed Shirazu and Athena standing a little way off. The ghoul beamed a large excited smile and ran over to the angry duo but as always Naki was oblivious.

"Hey guys!" Naki called out "Don't I look fabulous?!"

"You look like those Barbie dolls I used to pop the heads off when I was kid" Athena growled, she really wanted to pop Naki's head off right now, he was ruining the whole mission.

"Aww thank you" Naki smiled oblivious to the threat "Do you think anyone will recognise me?"

"Well if they don't recognise you they will sure notice you" Shirazu mumbled turning away, that dress was too bright.

"Ok so where do I start?" Naki asked and Athena,

"You can go and find Hinami and Seidou, I lost them" She told him and she watched as Naki beamed

"That's ok I'll find them!" And like that he was off.

"More like they will find you" Shirazu said and Athena nodded in agreement.

Xxx

In the back of the building where the girls toilets were Seidou was hiding in one of the small stalls sitting on the seat of his toilet with his legs pushed up against his chest, his head between his knees and his nails digging into the back of his head messing up the hair Athena had done so nicely for him.

He hated it in this club, so many people, so much noise and so many sweet smells that made him drool and his stomach rumble but he couldn't be hungry? Naki fed him some 'food' a few days before they left. However he couldn't remember being around so many humans in his life! He must have done once, at one point in his life he would off been around thousands of humans but now he could only recall being around ghouls.

His panic mode suddenly came to a halt went he heard a soft knock on his door "Seidou-san" the familiar voice of Hinami called out and the half-ghoul suddenly felt calmer. The still trembling Seidou stretched himself out of his seating position and slowly made his way to open the door, the door creaked as it opened but he was happy to see Hinami standing there with a worried expression on her face. Seidou opened the door a little wider for Hinami to squeeze in.

"What's wrong?" the girl dressed as a boy asked but Seidou kept his eyes to the floor for some reason feeling ashamed to be seen like this. The half-ghoul not knowing the words to say just shrugged but Hinami seemed to understand.

"It's too much for you isn't it?" the girl said "the crowds?" Seidou just nodded but deep down he felt like Hinami as thinking of the situation too innocently. She didn't seem to understand the strong impulses he had to rip everyone's throats out with his bare hands, feeling the blood trickling down his figures like melted chocolate and then lick the blood off like how a child licks to cake batter off a spoon.

"Come on" Hinami patted Seidou on the shoulder awaking him from his mind set "How about we go outside? It better than staying in these stinky toilets"

"But what about the mission?" Seidou asked, remembering they were meant to be looking for Arthur Reed but Hinami shook her head.

"Don't worry about that, if we see anyone we will tell them were we are going I'm sure they would understand, besides your more important at the moment" Hinami said ignoring the amazed look on his face she took his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom. Something about Hinami's words filled him with a strange warm fuzzy feeling deep in his scarred chest that made those dark gruesome thoughts from moments ago disappear. It made him smile however he could feel a silent small tear drop trickle down his cheeks.

Xxx

The back of the club was a lot quieter than Kaneki thought, the music and the cheers of the people sounded as if someone had turned the speakers on low. The area was deserted and Kaneki couldn't smell or hear anyone nearby, it seemed that it was still too early for drunk couples to shag themselves senseless. Once satisfied Kaneki who had been leading the way stopped and turned to face the investigator who was quietly sipping his drink.

This was the first time Kaneki had a good look at the man who attacked him and his pupils the other day and this was the first time that Arthur had seen the half-ghouls face (expect in a photograph). When Kaneki looked at the Investigator more he noticed that he wasn't carrying his quinque suitcase. Either this guy wasn't expecting Kaneki or any ghoul to attack him or he was overconfident confident in his own abilities.

"Well this is nice" Arthur commented looking around the empty alleyway "I suppose this is where you kill me now?"

"Not all ghouls want to kill for fun, surely you must know that?" Kaneki spoke solemnly and watched as the Brit nodded,

"Of course I do" He nodded "You know if you were in my country you would probably be assigned to long therapy sessions and once we are sure your stable enough you could work for the BCGM, the best position obviously"

"You talk like you already know a lot about me?" Kaneki said feeling a little uneasy but wasn't prepared to show it, Arthur shrugged his shoulders.

"Well luckily for me someone in the CCG has put together quite a large portfolio on you, so I'm sorry to say your life is not exactly private" Arthur said putting down his glass on the floor watching Kaneki's expression but the half-ghoul wasn't surprised at all.

"Ok enough with the pleasantries, what do you want?" Kaneki demanded "You are not even armed so I suppose you're not here to fight?"

"Oh no, to be honest I really wasn't expecting you to be here however I'm glad you are because I have something that might belong to a friend of yours" Arthur pulled something from his pocket and threw it over to Kaneki who caught it with ease, the half-ghoul looked at the object more closely and noticed it was Urie's mask.

"Thanks" Kaneki mumbled and put it in his handbag making a mental note to check it for bugs later "So what were you expecting then, a welcoming party?"

"Well more like I was expecting all the partyers in that club to turn all red eyed and capture me for Aogiri but I think I like this scenario a bit better"

"Very imaginative but no that's not going to happen" Kaneki said with a shake of his head, he was feeling uneasy, this investigator was defenceless, Kaneki could take him on in seconds however something about his calm voice and face expressions unnerved him, he was far too relaxed…Then Kaneki remembered that Arthur was originally from the BGCM who worked with ghouls….

"Hey…you don't happen to be a ghoul?" Kaneki asked and to his surprised Arthur burst out laughing.

"No, no I'm human" Arthur reassured "However that doesn't mean you can let your guard down, I'm not the only foreigner in the CCG and I can't say they are all human"

"Let me guess the USGEP are here?" Kaneki asked, automatically looking around for any signs of someone hiding in the shadows "It's because I killed that woman isn't it?"

"Well that's what Miss Woods says however I think it's only 65% of the reason; I'm assuming you've already done your own research on the organization?"

"Yeah, they are an American group who get ghouls to work for them right?"

"That's correct" Arthur nodded "However even though it keeps the peace between ghouls and humans it means that the USGEP are falling behind when it comes to understanding ghouls biology and how the kagune works, at the moment the CCG in the lead"

"Well I suppose ghouls don't want to put themselves under the knife willingly" Kaneki said "So what's your point?"

"Well let's say USGEP and all the other organization are competing against the CCG who want to prove that their ways of thinking and technogy is better, it's a never ending competition however if one of those countries got their hands on a legendary half-ghoul…"

"Then that country will have the lead when it comes to ghoul's knowledge…they want me as an experiment?"

"Well they would like it if you worked for them too but the thought of one-eyed ghouls existing is laughable but the CCG know better and the USGEP are making their move" Arthur stepped closer "in fact one of my friends from the USGEP is in that club right now luckily she was in the toilets when you approached me"

"I'm not planning to be captured by the CCG let alone some foreigners, thanks for the warning but you shouldn't be worrying" Kaneki smiled and was about to turn away but Arthur's voice stopped him.

"Maybe so but do your friends have that strength?" And that made Kaneki turn his head back to the investigator expecting to see a smug smile on the Brits face but his expression was solemn, his green eyes where cold like stones. "The USGEP is not stupid, they have no Kakuja ghouls on their side but they have just as much info as I or the rest of the CCG do, they will try to get to you on an emotional level, bride you or blackmail you, I don't know what your intentions are for working for Aogiri but I think you should stop"

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Kaneki demanded "I know some of you Westerners don't kill ghouls however you're in a different place now where those morals don't matter, you are unarmed and I could off killed you before this conversation even started"

"Yet you haven't" Arthur interrupted raising an eyebrow smiling "Because I'm a defences human and you know better than to take me on a person like that, anyway it's not me you should be worrying about" Arthur turned his head towards the night sky and closed his eyes and breathed in deeply though his noise "I have a bad feeling" He said suddenly and then turned back to Kaneki "Don't you think it's grown quieter in there?"

He nodded back to the club and Kaneki noticed it too, but the sounds hadn't just grown quieter, the music had stopped and the crowds of people who were once cheering with laughter where silent complaining loudly and questioning what was going on.

He looked back at Arthur in suspicion but he looked just as worried and confused as he did, he opened his mouth. He spoke with compose but his eyes held worry and…disappointment?

"I promise you…I didn't call them, your more useful to me alive" and with those words Kaneki had realised what had happened, the CCG where here.

Xxx

Hide, Touka and Yomo saw no point in waiting for Urie to come back so they planned on investigating the area a bit more and one thing that needed to be done as get into that shop Urie had come out off. Hide was sure that's where Kaneki and his new friends were staying or Urie wouldn't have bothered to lock the door.

"We could smash a window?" Touka joked but Hide wasn't amused.

"And let them know that we broke into their house, no thanks" Hide cursed his lack of foresight of not bringing his lock breaking kit.

"It's an old building that looks like it's been unoccupied even before Aogiri moved in" Yomo commented examining the building, the only thing new about the shop was the lock that must have put in that day but the rest of the building needed a good layer of paint and the roof tiles needed fixing and it was a wonder how the single stain glass windows haven't collapsed yet.

"Let's try the roof" Yomo suggested and Hide could see the point behind his reasoning. If the front door was locked then the back would be no better and since the roof was in a bit of a wreck there might be a way in though there and it turned out that Yomo was right. Once Hide was up on the roof (with some help of Touka from course) Yomo had found some trap door in the middle of the roof that was tightly bolted with a rusty old lock which looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"I don't think Kaneki and the others have found this door yet, so I don't think they will mind if we break it" Yomo said tapping the door lightly with his foot but Hide was confused.

"Why would they have a door here anyway?" Hide asked,

"Well the 11th ward was mostly controlled by ghouls, this shop might have been a hide out and the roof would be a safe passage out" Touka asked, she knelt down and examined the chains "The chain is made from quinque steal but it's been out in the air and harsh weather for so many years that is rusted" And with a bit of force Touka manged to break the chains apart with a loud clang that made Hide wince and look around but no one had noticed the sound.

Touka then pulled the door open and dropped into the hole without warning, next Hide jumped in cautiously after her with Yomo guarding the rear however instead of landing in the shop they seemed to have landed in some type of attic. Dust in the air made Hide take short coughs but he looked around and noticed that the room was full of cardboard boxes, shelves and other pieces of junk and in the corner of the room was Touka who was busy tearing open boxes and rummaging through the content.

Hide made his way over to her as he heard Yomo drop down lightly after him, the human leaned over Touka's shoulder, and she had opened up a new box and was pulling out from red Aogiri robes.

"If we give these a good wash then they should be wearable" Touka said stuffing a few in her bag pack,

"Isn't this stealing?" Hide asked,

"No one will miss them" Touka said sternly "besides you never know when we are going have to sneak into an evil organization" Hide just shrugged, the pair hadn't noticed that Yomo had moved other to the side of the room and they didn't turn their heads until they heard the creek of the door open, it was another trap door leading down to the shop.

"Down here" Yomo ordered and jumped down and Hide and Touka followed suite. Once they jumped down and where welcomed by night time's dim darkness, the trio could feel the squashy material under their feet that seemed to be sleeping bags, the rest of the room was full of shop shelves that seemed to have been pushed to the side to make room, there were broken down fridges however the place was littered with clothes, plastic bags and food packaging.

"This place is a mess" Touka commented and Hide couldn't help but agree. Hide looked out of the window and was surprised by how quickly darkness had come, they couldn't stay for too long.

"At lease there are no dead bodies" Hide said, making light of the situation but for a split second the human thought he would have to take that statement back because just then a humanoid figure with a thin hunched frame, long arms and legs and bright red eyes had jumped over the shelves. It was too dark to see any of the figures face features but that didn't matter because it's out stretched hand was reaching towards Hide.

Before Hide could pull out his quinque Yomo had pushed the human aside towards Touka and the male ghoul grabbed the attacker by the front of the neck and threw back into the stacked up shelves making the wood crash and break. Hide winced, there was no way that Kaneki wasn't going to notice that when he came home. Just then Touka did something that they should of done earlier, pulled out her torch light on her phone and shone it towards the figure to see was who was foolish enough to attack them.

"Torso!" She and Hide gasped but Yomo looked unsurprised. Suddenly they heard the sound of someone else jumping from the ceiling behind them.

"Well, well fancy seeing you guys here" The Trio relaxed at the familiar voice, Hide turned his face towards the speaker with a smile across his face.

"More like fancy seeing you here Nishiki Nishio"

Xxx

Kaneki, despite his heals, was sprinting as fast as he could towards the club. He reached the backdoor just in time to watch Akira Mado and her squad trying to calm down the worried crowd and Kaneki noticed that they were carrying RCCD1's.

"Everyone please calm down!" Akira shouted, "This is simple RC cell test, if you could all please stay were you we can get this done quickly"

This was just great, RC detectors. His eyes hurriedly scanned the confused but now excited crowd, the fact that there might the ghouls among them now made the humans think they were going to witness a ghoul fight and Kaneki wasn't going to let it happen. He might be immune to the RC cell detectors but his friends where not but that wasn't the main problem. Despite their disguises Akira will recognise her old squad but he was also concerned about Seidou, his used to be Akira's friend after all.

But then he spotted someone very familiar and he cursed his mad panic for not recognising it sooner I mean how couldn't have he? Standing on the other side of the room was a tall and glamourous looking woman with a dazzling pink dress. It was Naki. The two locked eyes which was a bit weird considering it was Naki of all people but even though no words could be said there eyes only said one thing. 'We're in trouble'.

Naki then did a small movement with his right arm similar but smaller to the one Kaneki did on the CCG car raid it meant we go in for the attack but Kaneki was still the boss and shook his head which made Naki look confused. Violence was the last resort and might be needed anyway but he didn't want to act rashly, no doubt these investigators were prepared but he needed to find the QS, Athena, Seidou and Hinami before anything happened.

The five members of Mado's squad were spread across the room carrying the bulky rectangle shaped device and beckoning the humans to look though the screen of the device who either did what the doves said because of curiosity or fear or some were scared to approach it and need some encouraging. Kaneki moved quietly and distinctly though the crowd of people, he had noticed that the front door was sealed along with a bathrooms so the only way out was the back door he had come from and he would of seen his squad if they went through that way so they could only be in this room.

He looked over to Naki once again and noticed with despair that it wouldn't be long until the Dove with the RCCD1 on that side of the room scanned Naki and that's when they would have to react but how many people where between Naki and the investigator? Eight or seven people? He needed to hurry.

Soon enough he felt a hand on his wrist grab him from behind, he jumped and turned to see Althea with her cap lowed and a finger to her lips.

"You shouldn't have come back" She whispered.

"I needed to see what was going on" Kaneki whispered harshly "Where are the others?"

"Well the QS are on the dance floor it will be while until the Doves get to them if they stay hidden, you know where Naki is and I have no idea where Seidou and Hinami are"

Kaneki sighed and rolled his eyes, this couldn't get any worse there was no way they could get out of this peacefully, they were going to have to fight.

They looked over to Naki once again, the Dove who was inspecting that side looked so close to the ghoul that it looked like Naki was going to jump out any second.

"There is no way Naki will let himself get scanned" Athena whispered "Once he attacks I'll follow then I want you to find the QS and leave"

"I can't just leave you!" Kaneki snapped harshly "What about Hinami and Seidou?"

"I will keep an eye out for them but it's possible they might have left the building already" Athena reassured and she had point but still it didn't feel good having to leave Naki and Athena at the mercy of the Doves but he had no time to think about when one of Akira's squad members made a beeline towards them with a sceptical look on his face, you know the type police officers make when they think you are up to no good. Yeah that look. He must not have liked the way Kaneki and Athena where whispering to each other.

"Excuse me" The officer spoke holding out the RCCD1 "Would you mind if we take your RC count?" Kaneki and Athena gave themselves quick look before Kaneki stepped forward first since the RC detector didn't seem to work on him, maybe Athena can use this opportunity to escape however something else happened, something worse or better depending how you look at it because the fire alarms suddenly went off and the smell of smoke filled Kaneki's senses.

"FIRE!" one of the waitresses shouted "Coming from the ladies bathroom! FIRE!"

The whole room erupted in panic.

 **Continue to Chapter 20**


	46. Takizawa Arc: Fire! Fire! P2

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 20: Fire! Fire!**

 **Part 2**

Meanwhile back in the 11th Ward,

"What the hell are you doing here?" Touka asked Nishiki Nishio as he stood there with a smug look on his face and arms cross "And why the hell did you bring that thing" She pointed to Torso whose real name was Karao Saeki. The last time Hide had seen him was at the ghoul auction all those months ago and Nishio had taken the ghoul away but what happened to Torso since he didn't know and he didn't think he wanted to because by his thin frame, the hunched shoulders and wild eyes Nishio couldn't have been treating him so good.

The Torso ghoul tried to get up but Nishio snapped "HEAL BOY, HEAL!" and shrank back down against the broken wood like a dog would do after being told off by its owner.

"I'm sorry about my new pet" Nishio said pleasantly "I'm still trying to train him but he must have recognised Hide's sent from the auction"

"I'll ask again, what are you doing here" Touka demanded to know.

"Why don't we talk somewhere else" Yomo suggested stepping between the two ghouls and for this Hide felt grateful. They had already ruined the place enough.

Once calmed down Nishio had pulled a dog lead from his pocket and strolled over in the shuddering ghoul. It was then Hide had noticed that Torso was wearing some type of dog collar around his neck, he watched as Nishio leaded down to latch the lead onto the collar like you would do for a dog and Torso let him!

"Let's go to my place" It was then they discovered how Nishio got into the shop in the first place, he had a key to the backdoor.

"I found this place before Kaneki and his goons did" Nishio explained "They have put a new lock in for the front door but haven't bother to check the back". Once out in the fresh air Nishio lead the trio down the empty road keeping a tight grip on Torso's lead. They walked silently for about five minutes though the empty street before coming to a small apparent building, probably only two floors tall.

Like a gentleman Nishio opened the door and let his guests go in first. They were met with which must have been once the front desk of the apartments but it was now empty. Nishio then lead the upstairs and by the looks of it Nishio owned the whole building, there was no smells or any other signs of life. They were lead in to the first room which seemed that Nishio tried to make into a sitting room. There was an old sofa which looked like it belonged in the 80s, a wooden coffee table that was on its last legs, a coffee machine (which was the newest thing in the room), a heater, some blankets and pillows in one corner of the room (which must be where Nishio slept) and on the other far side of the room was large old matted dogs bed, two bowls and numerous of dog toys. This must be for Torso.

Nishio bent down and to Hides horror he took his lead off.

"Bed!" Nishio ordered pointing over to the corner where his bed was. The Torso ghoul quietly with his head down moved slowly towards the dog bed a sat down putting his legs against his chest and wrapping his arms around them, it was a pitiful sight the trio didn't know what it make of it.

"Coffee?" Nishio offered and the trio nodded, feeling like they were going to need it.

Xxx

Back in The Encounter everyone was making a mad dash towards the exit not even the three investigators who had been guarding the front door could stop the crowds of people from leaving the building. Even Akira and her squad were confused, they needed to do their duty of checking the area out for ghouls however they couldn't let all these innocent people burn to death in a fire.

"Come on!" Athena shouted and pulled at Kaneki's arm and dragged him towards the exit along with the rest of the humans. The investigator didn't even stop them.

"Where did that fire come from?!" Kaneki shouted at Athena who was just as clueless as him.

"Just be grateful it happened!" She shouted back "Now let's get of here or we will burn to death instead!" but this wasn't the end of it because suddenly a strong hand with sharp figure nails grabbed him by the shoulder pulling him back, he was so shocked that all he could do was turn to face the person that was stopping his chance of escape.

It was Akira Mado.

"You caused this!" she snapped "You think that petty disguise could fool me?! You're not escaping this time Centipede!" With that she flicked her case open with one hand and Fueguchi One suddenly fell out. This made the rest of humans who yet to escape panic even more, now even the workers had gave up trying to control fire and where running towards the exit. A fire was bad enough but a ghoul fight was just too much. The other investigators now had their quinque out too and were ready to join Akira in the fight.

"HEY MADO!" A familiar voice screamed, she, Kaneki and Athena turned to find Naki running towards them at full speed and jumped up to aim at Akira's head not caring if his dress lifted up in the process. Akira expecting the attack dragged Kaneki infornt of as a shield but luckily the half-ghoul was stronger and yanked Akira's arm forward and like a martial arts master he flipped Akira over his shoulder making her collide into Naki. All this happened in a time span of three seconds.

"Good one!" Athena cheered, she had to admit she was impressed by Naki's and Kaneki's team work. Naki's high heeled kick had met Akira Mado's head and now the investigator was on the floor looking a bit dazed but she was an Associate Special Class, it would take more than a kick in the head to taker her down and she still kept Fueguchi One in her hands.

This was going to be a hard fight and not only that they had a race against time, Athena was the only one who had noticed that the flames where spreading and where fighting against the girls bathroom door but it was one-sided…unless the firefighters came the whole building would be engulfed with flames and the alcohol everywhere wouldn't help. It was also possible one of Akira Mado's goons called for back-up so they had no time to mess around.

"Athena!" Someone shouted and the ghoul turned to see the two of the QS squad, Shirazu and Mutsuki running towards her she also noticed that two of Mado's squad members were about to launch attack towards her.

She wanted to play with the rank 1 and First Class investigator a bit more but sadly today was not the day. In one swift motion her dazzling blue and green Ukaku kagune shot out from her shoulder blades and in a quick flash ice crystal shards shot out towards the investigators, who were skilled enough to dodge but dropped their quinque in the process.

"Sorry" Athena snarled her kakugan activated and her cap blown off reeling her face "but I don't have time to play today".

Xxx

The coffee wasn't as good as Touka's but it was fine considering it was from a cheap brand and from a coffee machine. There wasn't enough seats to sit on so Touka and Hide were one sitting down (because Nishio is such a gentleman), Yomo wanted to stand up and Nishio sat on the coffee table.

Nishio insisted that the trio tell their story first, they had nothing to hide and explained how Shuu guessed Kaneki might be in the 11th Ward and when they saw Urie get on to a boat.

"Yeah that Urie seems to be the lone wolf of the group" Nishio nodded,

"Yeah" Hide nodded "I remember when he first started college and Kaneki had a bad feeling about him, but we've told your side of the story so it's now your turn"

"Well as you already know I've been traveling around ward to ward since the auction raid, but I found out that the 11th ward is the best place for ghouls like me and CCG don't bother coming here"

"But the place looks almost empty" Touka argued.

"But still its reputation isn't the best" Nishio carried "The humans are smart to stay away from it and the ghouls living here who don't support Aogiri should leave as fast as they can, it's likely that Aogiri want their old ward back"

"But if they did wouldn't they make a move already?" Touka asked but Nishio shook his head.

"That's what they did last time remember and it didn't last very long, they probably want to take it slow this time step by step then do something that's going to shake all of Tokyo, the problem is when"

The trio didn't know what to say to that, Nishio's words where left hanging bring out an ominous feel to the room, Hide shivered. He knew that Aogiri had been starting small for a while but now hearing it was Nishio clarified the unpredictable situation.

"So what the plan" Yomo spoke out making everyone snap back into the reality.

"Well I'm staying here in the 11th Ward for a bit, keeping an eye on our half-bastard friend" Nishio said "Meanwhile you three should take Tsukiyama's advice and act when necessary, it's possible that Kaneki is acting against his will and is being blackmailed with our lives if we get in Aogiri's way it will put Kaneki's efforts in vain"

Touka opened her mouth as if to say something then she stopped a closed it again knowing that Nishio had a point. They had guessed for a while that Kaneki was probably being blackmailed by Aogiri to work for them and it was probably doing it for his own reasons too but still the Re gang felt helpless. They wanted to help their friend, Kaneki had a bad habit of putting all the reasonability on his shoulders without asking for help or support but they couldn't do anything until Aogiri make their move. All they could do was follow the trail and hope it's the right one.

Xxx

Akira struggled herself up keeping tight hold of Fueguchi One, that throw had shocked her and she cured she stupidity. She shouldn't have grabbed the Centipede ghoul like that, he was far too powerful and she didn't expected the leader of the White Suits to here too.

She looked over where two of her men were fighting a blue Ukaku ghoul. Mado's men where the best but they were struggling, Akira recognised the ghoul as Athena who had escaped the CCG earlier this week and she was going all out attacking the investigators with both speed and strength. Her remaining three men were having a battle with the two other ghouls but unfortunately they had their back to her but now her attention was drawn to the Centipede ghoul and Naki who approached her. It was then she was back on her feet. She was an Associate Special Class she couldn't stay lying down!

Akira shot up and lashed Fueguchi One towards the two ghouls in one swing, to her annoyance the two ghouls dodged, Naki jumped over it showing his panties while the Kaneki kept his dignity and dived under the weapon with amazing swiftness like a…well…Centipede.

Akira had to step back and pull her weapon in front of her, the problem with the rinkaku was that it had little defence whether you were using it as a Kagune or a Quinque and Kaneki was fast and aimed for Akiras gut but she dodged but forgetting that Naki was already ready to pulled her right hand away just in time before Naki could bite it off making her drop her kagune.

That was close…She nearly got her hand cut off.

"Mado-san!" One of her workers who were fighting the two ghouls called over, again she couldn't see the ghoul's faces because they had their backs to her. "The investigators from the 14th Ward branch are being delayed and the fire is spreading we need to leave!"

What her co-worker was saying was ridiculous but already she could smell the smoke and hear the flames crackling and going by their faces Kaneki, Naki and Athena were noticing it too and they knew that they'd rather die fighting an investigator than burning to death. Plus they could hear the sound of the fire engine approaching and at this moment the fire was more important before it spreads.

Suddenly Kaneki shouted is his normal male voice which sounded weird with his woman getup.

"Guys! We need to go now!" He shouted and Athena including the two other ghouls and even though they were wearing makeup she recognised their faces from anywhere. It was Mutsuki and Shirazu, two members from her old squad that she thought she lost were now alive and seeing Shirazu with a kagune forming on his back and Mutsuki with an eyepatch and his quinque knifes and by the looks of their faces they looked just as shocked to see her.

But then there was a sound of something like smashing of glass, they all turned to see that the fire was spreading, it wasn't large but it was heading towards the alcohol which was stored behind the counter.

"Shit!" Athena spat and headed towards the exit, the two injured investigators also ran but it must have more due to the fire more than chasing the ghoul. Suddenly Mutsuki and Shirazu took off along with the other three investigators. Akira was alone with Naki and Kaneki.

"Come on!" Kaneki shouted at the investigator and pointed to the door "We can't stay here!" Akira just stared at the ghoul in wide eyed shock.

"Why do you want to safe me?" She asked "Better yet why does Shirazu even have a kagune?! I thought they were dead!" Kaneki watched, almost pitying the investigator on the ground who was trying to fight back the tears in her eyes. However the half-ghoul had no time to answer because Naki had suddenly come behind the investigator and with the heel of his shoe to knock Akira out from the back of the head.

Kaneki gave Naki a disgust look.

"What was that for?!" Kaneki demanded to know but Naki just shrugged.

"Sorry but we have no time for a drama scene and it would be a bit pathetic if she died here" Naki picked up the quinque and turned it back to the case "You should get the woman, maybe we can dump her with the crowed of people who are probably standing outside".

Naki had a point, Kaneki quickly carried the passed out investigator over his shoulder while Naki carried the case heading towards the front door. Kaneki wished he could say it was quite and empty when he left the burning building but of course crowds of people who escaped from the building and even people who were just in the area had gathered around the scene and to his surprise the media and there camera's where here before the CCG, police or the firefighters.

Kaneki and Naki tried to keep their heads down as the half-ghoul put Akira down on the ground for the crowd to deal with and the two rushed off pushing past the confused and curious humans. Some members from the media tried to get a hold of them but luckily the two ghouls managed to escape before the firefighters came with the CCG driving behind it.

Xxx

Meanwhile when everything was going on Arthur Reed had been watching the burning club from a safe distance behind the crowd of excited onlookers. He kept his eyes out for Ali, he recognised some of Akiras men pushing past the crowd but he could not see the black jacket woman. There was no doubt in his mind that Ali had called the CCG despite him giver her his trust however that didn't explain why the fire started in the first place.

The firefighters had come and so had the CCG along with the police and ambulance. His attention was drawn to four men and woman as they carefully placed the unconscious Akira Mado onto a stretcher and rolled her into the ambulance truck but Arthur didn't really care nor did he care where Kaneki and his friends had run off too. This trip was pointless….

"Excuse me" A random CCG officer said and showed off his ID "My name is Taichi Nonaka, I'm one of the main officers from the 14th wards branch, you don't happen to be Arthur Reed any chance?"

"Yes" Arthur nodded, he knew where this was going.

"Can you please come with me, we have some questions for you"

Xxx

Saying that Ken Kaneki was in a bad mood was an underestimate. After he and Naki where a good distance from the club they had stopped to catch their breath on some empty street where they were found by their friends five minutes later with everyone safe and sound. It was then everything was explained.

While the group where looking for Arthur Seidou had a panic attack in the bathroom where he was found by Hinami who took him outside for some fresh air and that's where they saw the CCG enter, it was then they decided to make a fire to distract the Doves. The pair had waited by the car and Saiko was first to meet up with them and explained what way going on but now they were all together and though that cheered Kaneki up a little he was annoyed because they hadn't achieved anything, in fact everything was now worse!

Akira Mado now knew that Mutsuki and Shirazu were alive and with ghoul abilities and it would be easy to assume that Urie and Saiko would be alive too. Plus they had grained no information on the CCG and the 14th ward is now going to be on the Doves raider and it was all his fault. He turned to Athena who sat beside him in the back seat alongside Naki. The driver was Shirazu with Mutsuki besides in staring out of the window in thought, everyone else was thinking about what had happened.

"What was the point off all this?" the ghoul asks the blond with surprising calmness in his voice, everyone turned to their heads to the pair (expect Shirazu). Athena didn't look at the half-ghoul but leaned her head back and closed her eyes, a slight smile creped along her face.

"Why would you say that?" She said quietly "We lured out the Doves like ordered"

"But at what price?" Kaneki asked more forcefully "Mutsuki's and Shirazu's identities have been discovered, we were nearly killed by Akira Mado and now the CCG are going to be focusing most of their efforts on the 14th ward, we are going to have to keep low for a while"

"What are you talking about" Athena turned to the half-ghoul calmly with a cheerful smile which didn't suit the situation at all. "This is the best time to strike, what do you think we've been working towards for all week? In a couple of days the Doves will makes their nests in the 14th wards that's when we crows strike"

"What are you planning?" Kaneki demanded, now everyone's eyes were on Athena who turned away from Kaneki and look upwards at the ceiling of the car.

"More like what Eto is planning" Athena said "But don't worry, you will find out soon enough"

Kaneki turned to look at Naki who looked just as confused as he felt but strangely enough the leader of the white suits didn't say anything but was clutching Akira's case on his lap, Hinami who was sitting right in front of him had recognised the scent of the case but she waited for Naki to say something and he did.

"Hinami-chan" Naki started looking nervous "I stole this quinque from Mado, it was your dad wasn't it?"

Hinami didn't turn around, now if the car didn't feel awkward enough it certainly did now but in a different way. Kaneki smiled a bit, though shocked at Naki's sensitivity and thoughtfulness he was glad that Naki and Hinami were now going to develop some friendship and Hinami will be given what should be rightfully hers.

"I don't know what you want do with him" Naki continued "But I think he's better in your hands than being used as weapon to kill his own kind or his own daughter, so will you take it?"

Hinami turned towards with Naki with a smile on her face and tears running down her cheeks. Kaneki's heart swelled as did everyone else's. Naki stared at the girl with a frightened look on his face, he didn't mean to make Hinami cry, he only wanted to help…

"Thank you Naki-san" She cried happily "Once we get out of this car remained me to give you a hug"

Naki beamed like a child finding out Christmas had come early. Naki could be a sociopathic killer at times but he did care about his friends and the people he works with and even though they left the mission on a heavy note Kaneki's heart and everyone else's was feeling lighter than before.

That was until they got home.

"What the fuck happened?!" Shirazu screamed as they unlocked the shop they had been staying in. Everyone walked in not knowing how to respond to the mess. Some of the shop shelves had been smashed like someone had been thrown into them. The sleeping bags looked like they had been stepped on and part of the ceiling was handing open leading to something that looked like an attic.

"Has there been a fight?" Mutsuki asked worriedly however they could not smell or see any blood or any other signs of damage. Kaneki was about to ask Urie's whereabouts when he heard the familiar voice shout out behind him. Speck of the devil.

"You're back early?" They all turned to see Urie coming towards him looking calm and innocent, he looked like he had been having a stroll and he must have been to the beach due to the scent of the sea on him.

"Were where you?!" Shirazu demanded storming over to the Quinx "And what's happened to the shop?"

"What are you on about?" Urie asked with a sigh, obviously thinking that Shirazu was going on one of his mad pointless rants.

"You know that mess in the store, our hideout!" Shirazu pointed to the building but still Urie looked confused.

"Sorry but after you left I went to explore the ward" Urie explained.

"So you must have forgot to lock the door" Shirazu accused, but Mutsuki stepped in.

"But that can't be, the door was locked when we arrived" Mutsuki said "it seems we have an attic in the shop, the people who broke in could of gone though that way"

"But nothing seems to have been taken though" Athena shouted loud enough so they can here from the inside of the shop, Kaneki checked and she was right everything seemed to be in place.

"We will have to investigate the attic tomorrow" Kaneki said solemnly "but first we need to get this place cleaned up"

Xxx

Arthur had been in an integration room for the past half hour. He had been put into Taichi Nonaka's car and was drove to the 14th wards CCG office, it wasn't as impressive as the 1st ward's office but all he had seen so far where grey walls and two stern investigators demanding answers from him such as what he was doing at The Encounter, who was with him, why the fire started and what ghouls he had seen.

He tried to answer the best he could with his usual calmness and smiles but the Investigators were not swayed by his charms and they were making it hard for him to keep his patience. He could answer why he went to the club and explained that Ali Woods had been with him but he couldn't explain how the fire started and he only knew that the Centipede ghoul was there but didn't know who else (he guessed those strange grey-eyed half-ghoul where there but he couldn't say for certain).

Once he had answered the same questions again and again and answered the same way every time they finally left him alone with the peace and quiet. Arthur kept looking at his watch, he had been alone for half an hour and he wondered how long they were going to keep him in for. He was glad when he heard his door finally open, he turned towards his visitor and didn't feel surprised at all when no other that Ali Wood stepped into the room.

"I was wondering where you went" Arthur said with a slight smile "I was look for you when that fire started, thought you would be in the hospital like poor Mado"

"Akira Mado is fine" Ali reassured closing the door "She's awake after being hit on the head a couple of times, she has slight burns as well but overall she will back in work tomorrow"

"That's good" Arthur nodded "Want to tell me where you ran off to? Or maybe you want to tell me you where the one who called the CCG to the club in the first place".

"I recognised the Owl, Seidou Takizawa disguised as a girl in the bathrooms, Hinami Sasaki was there also, these are the two most wanted ghouls in Tokyo, I couldn't let them get away"

"And did you catch them?" Arthur asked, he wasn't surprised when Ali didn't look at him or answer his question, instead she moved to the chair across from him and sat down.

"I've come to pass down a message from the higher ups" Ali said solemnly "They are not happy that you disobeyed orders, you ran into possible enemy territory when given orders not to. They are deciding whether to still keep you on or deport you back to England"

"Lovely" Arthur tutted "And I suppose they are letting you off the hook since you sold me out"

"I didn't sell you out!" Ali shouted "I was on your side, I thought it was only the Centipede ghoul that was there I didn't expect more SS rated ghouls to be lurking around"

"I think you underestimate the target Ali" Arthur said calmly.

"And I think you underestimate my abilities" Ali snapped, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and spoke again. "However that's not all. The CCG is going to be sending more investigators to the 14th Ward, it seems that it's becoming more of a place for ghouls and Aogiri, its possible it could turn into a raid"

"Don't you think that's what Aogiri wants?" Arthur asked tilting his head back.

"But why?" Ali asked.

"Yes that's a good question" Arthur nodded "However a lot has happened in that ward the past week, it's almost like they want to draw the doves there"

Ali was silent for a minute before standing up.

"The CCG want you to stay the night here" Ali said turning to the door "Try to behave till then"

The girl left Arthur alone once again with his thought. The Brit shook his head, the whole situation was laughable, how where the CCG the best ghoul fighting organisation in the world? They were idiots! And so was he…He shouldn't have trusted Ali, the whole situation would have been different. But not matter, he got to talk to Ken Kaneki, though he didn't get the info he wanted he was one step closer to success.

 **Note: I know this was meant to be out a few week earlier for its 1** **st** **anniversary but college work and exams got in the way and so did other family business but once college finishes for summer (In about three weeks) the story should go back its usual once a week updating pattern.**

 **Sad to say this arc is nearly finished, we have a set up chapter for the battle then the battle should be around four or five chapters long then we get onto the Rosewald Arc then the final. I plan to have fic finished by the end of summer, this is so I can get onto other projects mainly for Tokyo Ghoul and Hetalia.**

 **I would like to thanks those who reviewed the last chapter which is Anonymous, DrunkSeidou, BoringBlue and codename00guest we have now reached 190 reviews, let's get to 200! Maybe… you don't have to lol.**

 **Thanks for your patience and sorry for the wait.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	47. Takizawa Arc: Counting Days

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 21: Counting Days**

The next day the news front pages were all about the fire that occurred at The Encounter, plus everything that had happened in the past week. The Press was working over time trying to get the latest news out to public, majority of it was speculation and rumours with only vain and over excited people's words as evidence. For once majority of information was quite accurate most of these attacks are speculated to be the work of Aogiri and the infamous Centipede ghoul. However no one could tell who started the fire, The Encounter was a cheap bar and their security cameras where just for show however the fire department could work out that the fire was started by using a lighter on some trash bins that hadn't been collected.

There was speculation that the ghouls had started it to trap the CCG investigators inside or that it was the investigators themselves to watch some ghoul's burn but then why would they put investigators in there in the first place. Or there was the boring theory that it was just some teenagers who caused trouble at the worst time.

Early that afternoon Kaneki sent one of the 11th ward ghouls to fetch him a paper and he was rather impressed with what the papers said, however Mutsuki's and Shirazu's faces where pasted on the pages as one of new wanted ghouls but he was sure it wouldn't take long for the CCG to work out that Saiko and Urie were alive too. He had to keep them hidden for now.

At this moment the half-ghoul was sitting on a wooden chair that he had taken from the shop and put it up so he was facing the sea. He could get used to living in the 11th ward, despite its bad reputation, lack of people or facilities it was a rather peaceful place. He hoped that one day people will start rebuilding here but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crunching footsteps from behind him, Kaneki didn't have to turn to see who it was.

"Hi Urie-kun" the footsteps stopped only a couple of feet away from him and this time Kaneki turned putting his newspaper down and smiled at the Quinx who was crutching a sheet of paper almost nervously.

"I came to ask you about something" The Quinx said bluntly and held out the paper for Kaneki to take. Kaneki read though it carefully and frowning, the letter was from Kanou reminding him of the basics of the QS surgery and permission for Urie to get one of his frames removed. This surprised Kaneki very much, since when has Kanou ever asked anyone's permission to experiment on them? Well Kaneki supposed that Kanou knew that if he did anything to his students he would pay a large price and not even Eto would stop him.

"I'm not sure Urie-kun" Kaneki said giving the paper back the Quinx "Your QS ability isn't everything to you guys and you are not Kanou's guinea pigs" The half ghoul signed and picked up his newspaper "You guys have enough potential to improve on your own so my answer is no"

There was a still silence, only the sound of waves and the slight wind could be heard

"Thank you" Urie bowed politely but inside he was boiling with anger and disappointment, Kaneki may call him a guinea pig but to him, this was everything he needed.

He was about to turn his back until Kaneki stopped him.

"By the way" The half-ghoul said "do you know where my black jacket has gone? I can't find it"

Urie paused a bit before shaking his head "Sorry but I don't know" he answered leaving his tutor to his newspaper.

Xxx

Back in the 6th Ward café Re was open for business and busy with customers both humans and ghouls gossiping about the recent events mainly about the fire. Since Touka now has two new helpers who were under the supervision of Yomo she found it safe to leave the counter and go and check on Hide. The human hadn't come down for breakfast and Touka was worried, she crept upstairs opened the door to his room to find the human slouched over his desk with his head down, eyes closed and snoring loudly.

Touka smiled, even though it wasn't good for Hide's back to sleeping on the desk she was glad that he was finally getting some sleep. Touka took the blanket from his bed and put it over him carefully so not to wake him.

"Sleep well" She wished him, before closing the door hoping maybe that the human will sleep the day away, he needed a day of rest after all.

She went back downstairs and to her surprise saw Shuu Tsukiyama talking to Yomo, when did that Gourmet get here?

"Ahh Touka-chan!" Tsukiyama called waving the ghoul over "I was wondering if we could speak privately for a second?" Touka looked over to Daniel and Adrianne who were watching Tsukiyama with suspicion.

"In the back" She led Tsukiyama to the sitting room while Yomo stayed behind with the new employees.

"Well they a curious duo" Tsukiyama comment as he made himself comfortable on the sofa. Touka sat down opposite him.

"I needed new staff" she said "Anyway what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"A well first thing first where's the human?"

"He's asleep, I can pass what information you have onto him" Touka explained and the Gourmet nodded understanding.

"Ok then I just wanted to say that my plan has been put into action"

"What plan?" Touka asked, she remembered Hide mentioning to her yesterday that Tsukiyama had something up his sleeve but they didn't know what.

"The plan for tracking down Kaneki-kun of course" Tsukiyama laughed "You see the little mouse has been very handy for the past few days, we have placed a tracker in the jacket our friend mostly wears"

"Wha…?" Touka was going to ask how but Tsukiyama hushed her.

"The details are not important" Tsukiyama said "but now we should be able to track our one-eyed friend's movements and we can put our search into action"

"But…!"

"Hush!" The Gourmet interrupted "You're so reckless little Rabbit, going off to find Kaneki like that. Your very lucky he and his little friends where busy at a certain nightclub"

"We have no prove that Kaneki or even Aogiri where involved in that!" Touka argued back "It could have just been random ghoul activity, you know what they are like in the 14th ward"

"That's what we like to think isn't it" Shuu smiled standing up from the sofa "However deep down we know better, I think we should be on our toes from now on there is no doubt that Aogiri is planning something big and we need to be there when it happens"

"Or out of the way?" Touka muttered, the rabbit ghoul fidgeted nervously with the hem on her shirt. What Tsukiyama had just said was nothing she didn't know already, it was obvious that Aogiri was building up to something but what that plan was is still a mystery.

Xxx

Grey, the worst colour in Arthur's book. Not long after Ali left Arthur was lead to one of the cells which should have been used for ghouls but for now it didn't matter, it was only temporary well at least that's what Arthur hoped.

He didn't sleep much that night, he paced up and down his cell, did sit ups and other exercises or he was sitting on his uncomfortable bed just thinking or keeping himself distracted he didn't know what was best. He needed to think logically about the situation and how he was going negotiate with the higher ups of the CCG, he was also thinking about the raid which was possible to happen if the CCG get the information they need and he was sure that Aogiri were going to make sure they will get it.

What was Aogiri planning?

But apart from all this he was angry, angry at Ali and the rest of the CCG's officials. How dare they take away his quinque and lock him up here, how could Ali betray him? What the hell was wrong with the CCG's system? But then he had to close his eyes and remember to take deep calming breaths. There was no use getting angry, he needed to stay calm and logical. That's all he could do.

At 10:00 am did his locked door finally open, he let the sound of the heavy creaking noise of the door lift his spirits, he was finally getting out of here and he would sort this all out…

"You breakfast" the guard said dumping the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast on the floor and then the door closed in half the time it opened making Arthurs hope fall greatly.

They didn't even bring him a cup of tea.

Oh well at least they knew what he liked for breakfast, or he would of liked it if the bacon wasn't burnt, if the egg's had more salt in and if the toast hadn't crumbled in his hands. So over all it wasn't great.

Looks like he would be waiting here for a little longer.

Xxx

"I'm thinking of going to see the Provider today" Kaneki announced that early afternoon once all the gang was gathered in the shop.

"Ok I will come with you" Shirazu started but Kaneki put his hand up to stop him.

"No Shirazu, I want you and everyone else to stay here" Everyone stared at Kaneki in shock and annoyance "I understand that no one is happy with this arrangement" Kaneki continued "But Shirazu's and Mutsuki's faces are already on the ghoul wanted list and it won't be long before they decided to put Urie's and Saiko's faces on that too besides our group too big and I move quicker on my own"

He wasn't going to tell them that the Provider wanted to speak to him alone, that was his own thing to worry about.

"But Nekisan, I want to thank Rin for helping us the other day I don't think we wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for her" Shirazu argued back but Kaneki wasn't stepping down.

"I will pass on the message to her, you will have other opportunities to visit her but just not today"

Shirazu looked a disappointed but luckily Hinami stepped,

"It's ok onii-chan we understand, besides Shirazu is needed here, he's squad leader after all" Shirazu's eyes lit up at Hinami's words. Mutsuki and Saiko joined in nodding in agreement,

"Yes your needed here" Mutsuki said "I mean someone has to keep us together while Kaneki-sensei is away"

"GO SQUAD LEADER!" Saiko cheered. Hinami smiled proudly, while Naki, Seidou and Athena staying quite for different reasons. Naki didn't care what was going on, he was mourning for his pink high heal shoes that broke during the fire yesterday. Seidou as always was too nervous to speak and didn't have anything to say anyway and Athena had been quite for the whole day.

"Just be safe ok" Hinami said turning to Kaneki who smile reassuringly.

"It will be fine" Kaneki smiled and went towards the back room to get ready and to his surprise he found his black leather jacket hanging right there on the coat hanger where he was sure he left it.

"That's strange" He said to himself but he shrugged it off for now and pulled the item from the hanger and put it over this shoulders.

Xxx

After that very pointless meeting Urie waited until Kaneki had left the building and when the other members of the team where busy doing their own thing. He wasn't prepared to listen to Kaneki's orders let alone Shirazu's so as soon as no one was paying attention to him he slipped outside, taking the car keys from the desk before leaving and hopped into the car and drove out of the ward.

Urie didn't want to spend all day driving though all the wards just to avoid the first four wards, he was going to take the risk and drive though wards three, one and fifth to get to 18. Luckily the windows where tinted black so there was no reason that he couldn't drive though the wards, as long as he didn't stop it was fine.

He went on driving like this for a good while, traffic was moving ok however it just when he was in the middle of the 3rd ward did he notice his petrol was running low.

"Shit" Urie swore, they had been using the car a lot and the fact it might need filling up left everyone's mind, including Urie's but he didn't want to stop, he didn't want the CCG to see him but then again he didn't want to break down either so once he saw that the nearest gas station was up ahead he drove into it.

While filling up his car he kept his hood up so it covered his face meanwhile keeping a sharp look out for any CCG officers, it was in these moments when he was starting to understand what ghouls felt like every day. Watching out for Doves, staying in the shadows and blending in with society.

By the time the petrol had nearly filled up his car he heard a familiar voice some distance away,

"I heard we are getting sent to the 14th Ward soon, you think that's true Kuroiwa-san?" one of the random investigators spoke,

"It's very likely but you can't reply on rumours, someone will have to stay here and ensure that all the other wards are in check" Kuroiwa answered "Besides I want to check up on Akira Mado, she coming back into work this afternoon"

"Seriously?" the random investigator gasped "wasn't she hit on the head like, twice?"

"Yeah but Mado-san isn't weak, though I think she should stay in the hospital for a few more days"

Urie's grip on the handle tightened but not out of fear but out of anger, just a few feet behind him filling up his own car was the son of the man who left his father behind, rank 1 Takeomi Kuroiwa.

"So do think you will get a chance to battle with the SS rated Centipede?" The investigator asked.

"I'm only a rank 1" Kuroiwa said sternly, the man never laughed "Although it would be an honour to fight such a strong ghoul, I don't believe I'm skilled enough for the job"

 _Would you be a little more full of yourself?_ Urie thought, _How dare you go on with your life. Your father abandoned mine. Unforgivable. Why didn't he fight together with him? He surely lives carefree after abandoning his superior. Shameless bastard. I can't forgive u. Are you going to turn and face me? What will you do? I can kill u and your little friend in seconds. So quickly you won't even see it. Maybe it's a good thing your father didn't die, he could grieve for the loss of a son instead!_

But then the beeping sound of the petrol machine told him it was done and Urie quickly got back in his car and took a quick look out of the tinted windows to see Kuroiwa not paying attention and chatting to his friend as he filled up the car. Any thoughts of creating a bath of Kuroiwa's blood flew out of Uries mind and he drove to the small booth where he paid for petrol (using the money Aogiri gave him) and drove as fast as legally possible away from the ward without stopping.

Finally he was driving though the familiar old streets of the 18th ward. It had felt like forever since he had last drove down these streets (even though it was only three days ago). Urie ignored the poor working class humans and the homeless ghouls that sat in the street corners and took the car though the narrow roads that will lead him to Aogiri's main building.

He parked the car in the garage where Aogiri kept all their other cars and hopped out surprised to find most of the cars gone. He quickly left the garage and moved towards the building which was strangely quiet. Even though most of the base was run underground it was strange not see anyone lounging around in the front however he continued on going inside the building and heading towards the stairs that will lead him underground.

While he walked towards Eto's room he came across no one, it was strangely disturbing and the only sounds he could here was his own footsteps and the humming noise of the air vent but all that changed in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing back?" a voice behind him asked, Urie jumped in surprise and turned only to see Ayato Kirishima standing a car length away from him. Urie relaxed a little, Ayato didn't look angry but more curious with his head tilt at an angle with his arm crossed in a comfortable position.

"I was wondering if I could talk to Eto?" Urie asked, Ayato raised his eyebrows in surprise,

"Eto is on business, is there something wrong at the 11th ward?" Ayato questioned suddenly looking concerned which was a new face for the Black Rabbit ghoul.

"Everything is fine" Urie reassured pulling out the slip of paper Kanou had given him "I was wondering if she could sign this form to confirm that I'm ready for the next stage of the QS experiment"

Ayato took the paper off Urie and scanned though it (wait Ayato could read?!). After he was done he passed it back to Urie.

"I'm guessing that you want to expand the power of your kagune and become more ghoul like?"

"I feel that I'm ready for the next level, I have already mastered the power I have now and I'm prepared to take on more" Urie answered with confidence but Ayato frowned.

"But wouldn't it be that half-bastards job to sign your slip?" By 'half-bastard' Urie guessed that he was talking about Kaneki.

"I asked him but he refused" Urie said before a thought crossed his mind "You have a high position in Aogiri, maybe it would be in your right to sign…."

"No" Ayato said abruptly "I'm not getting on that Centipedes bad side just for the sake of a stupid human!" They stared at each other in an awkward silence before Ayato sighed,

"Look, you need ask someone who is not unnerved by Ken Kaneki, I think Tatara is in today, he might sign your form"

"Thank you" Urie forced out feeling a little annoyed with the Black Rabbit but followed Ayato anyway back towards the stairs and up towards the top floor of the building where the high ups usually trained.

"You do understand why Kanou wants you to have a leader's permission to open your frames up don't you?" Ayato asked and Urie nodded,

"it's because he's scared of Centipede" He answered but Ayato shrugged,

"Maybe, he is possibly one of the strongest ghouls next to the One Eyed King and that's why Aogiri rather have him on our side"

"But why?" Urie demanded to know "the doctor has already examined him and he now knows how to create the QS and there are plenty of other strong ghouls in Aogiri so why not kill him?"

Ayato didn't answer, Urie knew there was more to this that was being let on but Urie didn't say anything and continued to follow the Black Rabbit up the long journey of five flites of stairs.

Finally they reached the top.

Ayato walked towards the first door they came to and knocked loudly on the door. They waited for a long ten seconds before the soft but deep voice of Tatara called for them to enter. Ayato opened the door and walked in to find the a white haired man with his small red eyes closed and a stoic expression on his face, he sat crossed legged in the middle of the large open room with the sun rays pouring onto him. He would of looked quite amazing if Urie didn't know the man any better, Tatara was one of Aogiri Tree's leaders and was once a member of the Chinese ghoul organization Chi She Lian and the Quinx knew the ghoul would cut him down in seconds so he waited patiently with Ayato at his side for a minute waiting for the Chinese ghoul to notice them.

Finally the ghoul opened his eyes and turned his head towards the two young men standing there.

"Yes?" he said as emotionless as ever, Urie didn't respond right away until Ayato gave him a hard nudge in the ribs and Urie produced Kanou's slip.

"I'd like to request raising my frame level as I would like to improve the development of the QS ability, I would also like…" However Urie was interrupted,

"Asking me directly" Tatara said, not even changing his face expression "How bold of you Urie-kun surely this is something to bother Ken Kaneki about, so if you please…"

"It's true that Ken Kaneki is responsible for the QS project" Ayato spoke out stepping forward, Urie stared at the ghoul in surprise "However Urie-kun wasn't able to get his permission so he decided to ask one of the leaders instead"

Tatara didn't say anything for another minute and just stared blackly at the younger men. Urie's palms were sweating with nerves, despite what Ayato said he had stepped out for Urie, a stupid human. He didn't want to get Ayato into trouble for his sake besides the Rabbit ghoul might have even made the situation worse.

"Why would you go that far?" Tatara asked, his eyes on Urie "To avenge you father?" Those words shocked Urie like someone had just punched him in the gut, how did Tatara know that? He must have looked into Urie's past before making him join Aogiri, why did Aogiri have to read so much into stuff?

"My loyalties are with this organisation and the One-eyed king, I have no interest in seeking a pointless revenge but only to help develop the QS surgery" Urie answered but before Tatara could answer there was a loud knock on the door, Urie jumped, he didn't see the door close.

"Enter" Tatara called and they all turned to see the door open and a small bandaged head with two black holes for eyes poked out. Eto stared blackly at the men in to room.

"Oh I'm sorry am I interrupting something?" The childish woman asked but Tatara shook his head,

"Oh no please come in, we could use your imput" Tatara said,

"Oh? Is that so" She opened the door wider and stepped fully into the room.

"Urie has come to me asking me permission to increase his QS ability, what do you think about that?"

"Hmmm" Eto sighed in though stepping further into the room so she was now standing right in front of Urie, the Quinx didn't like the way the ghoul looked at him he still hadn't forgiven her about that other night.

"You understand the risks of the surgery don't u?" She asked, leaning forward into Urie's personal space "You will become more like a ghoul with each frame you break; you understand what that could mean don't you"

There was a silent pause until Urie nodded,

"Then what's the problem?" Eto said spinning around to face Tatara "Contact Kanou imminently! We will take this boy to Rue so he can undergo the surgery"

"Wait right now?!" Ayato gasped, Urie was also shocked by the woman's outburst a few seconds a go is situation seemed hopeless and now he was suddenly getting the surgery.

"Well why wait?" Eto asked turning towards Ayato "We have a lot to do and we have so little time, why delay? Don't worry Urie, the operation will take until the end of the day and you will stronger than before, so let's get going"

 **Important Note: Don't worry this fanfiction is still alive! I know I've not updated for a month but I've been going through personal issues and they have been giving me a writer's block but I didn't want to give you lot half assed chapters, u guys deserve more than that so I hope you don't mind waiting.**

 **But seriously thank you all for being patient and I will try to better next time.**

 **Next chapter will be the last set up chapter before the battle, I know it was meant to be in this chapter but it just felt right to stop here. In the next chapter we will find out what's going on with Arthur, find out what the Provider wants with Kaneki and hopefully start the final battle of the arc. I've really enjoyed this arc, its felt like it's been none stop and more action paced that the other ones. The next arc will be the Rosewald Arc which will rap put most of the story then we have one last arc. I'm planning to get this fic done by the end of year and thank you all for sticking with me for this long!**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	48. Takizawa Arc: The Point

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 22: The Point**

" _Wasn't the Rosewald family annihilated by ghoul Investigators?" "Didn't the late master leave a Grandchild behind in Germany?"_ These where only a couple of the rumors and gossip that was flying around the Tsukiyama household and among most of the upper class ghouls when they thought the young boy was out of ear shot, unfortunately ghouls were blessed with a strong sense of hearing and Kanae Rosewald was no exception.

He knew that he shouldn't be crying and that he should be grateful for his situation, Master Mirumo didn't have to take the poor boy in and welcome him with open arms, right now he could be growing hungry and dying in the streets or maybe an investigator would have killed him then his family's sacrifice would be a waste. However the young ghoul was hunched in the empty hallway of his master's home with his arms around his legs and head buried between his knees trying to muffle his sobs.

The poor lad was too absorbed in his misery that he did not hear the light _click click click_ of light footsteps approaching him and stop just a foot away from him.

"Hey, are you Kanae?" The sound of his name being spoken made the boy suddenly lift his head up towards the speaker and was surprised to see a tall elegant teen, older than Kanae and couldn't be any older than fifteen stand there with a purple tailor made suit that fitted perfectly over his slender body. Kanae knew that no ghoul dressed like that could be a servant but one of his masters.

"I am Shuu Tsukiyama" The teen greeted holding out his hand towards the boy. Kanae was unsurprised, he had heard about Shuu Tsukiyama from the other servants but with only him being here no more than a week he had yet to see the heir of the Tsukiyama fortune. "I heard we had a new servant, your German and proficient in Japanese right, did you already get use to our place?"

"Ah-um" the boy didn't know how to respond, he just stared at the teen in front of him only realizing how rude he was being. His master was offering a hand to him and he was ignoring it. He quickly took Shuu's hand let himself be pulled back up on his feet.

"Thank you…." Kanae bowed his thanks to his master but Shuu waved him off.

"No need for that" he said with a dismissal tone and he wrapped his long arm over Kanae's shoulders "Come with me, I want to show you something"

Kanae let Shuu lead him silently out the house and though the garden where they came across a large glass like dome. Shuu let the boy go and unlocks the glass door.

"Behold! The rose garden of the Tsukiyama family!" Shuu beckons the boy in and Kanae gasped is astonishment, everywhere he looked rows upon rows of roses of all types and colours spread along and ground, climbed the walls and hung from the ceiling. The dome seemed to stretch on and Kanae stepped in admiring and trying to remember the names of the different roses he could see, he recognized the sunset orange Rose Louis de Funès, the soft pink Rosa Queen Elizabeth and the velvety dark red of the Rosa Ingrid Bergman but there where others that where foreign to him ones that where yellow and brown, white, purple and a vintage cream colour, it was like beautiful paradise to Rosewald and he wanted to explore more.

"Duftwolke" Shuu Tsukiyama, Kanae turns to see his master holding up bright pink flower which was in full bloom with its many petals out to be admired "Also known as the Giant Cloud, I really like its fragrance, it's a high class German rose" To Kanae's surprise his master bends down to his height and carefully slots the rose in the front of his shirt pocket "Kanae, my distant younger brother separated by blood…Please stop crying alone, live beautifully with your head held up high just like the rose on your chest that is the duty of being part of the Tsukiyama family….."

"Kanae…..Kanae…..KANAE!" the servant was snapped out of daydream…memory….flashback thing to the sound of Shuu Tsukiyama's voice. The now 19 year old Kanea turned towards his master who had a worried look written on his face, the servant had been busy on the ground tending to the flowers when his mind had drifted off, it was a hot day for September so the heat could be blamed.

"Are you quite alright Kanae, u seem to be staring into space and you look unfashionably pale maybe a sit in the shade and nice cold glass of water will help?" Shuu lent a hand to Kanae but the servant pulled himself on his own, he didn't want to be a burden to his master and now he felt ashamed of himself that he caused his master to worry…again.

"I will be ok thank you Master Shuu, I think the sun is getting to my head I should go in now"

"Well if you're sure" Shuu smiled uncertainly "But don't push yourself, I might call upon your help very soon"

"What do you mean?" The servant asked confused, Shuu lowed his voice and answered.

"The CCG is putting most of their efforts into the 14th ward and there is rumors it might turn into a raid and you know who the CCG is going to be fighting against?"

"Aogiri" Kanae answered and Shuu nodded,

"Si, and that also means that Kaneki-kun could appear and the raid would be the best time to approach him and we all the supporters we can get, are u in?" Kanae stared at his master for a moment and he felt warmth spread though his chest, was this happiness that his master was requesting his help? Out of all the servants in the household Kanae was the one Shuu was entrusting however did Kanae really want to help Kaneki? The half ghoul was a pig, unnatural, impure! The half-ghoul wasn't good enough for his master but how could he deny him?

"Of course" Kanae bowed and then turned on his heel and walked back towards the house not letting his master see the worry frowned upon his face, he needed a plan.

xxx

Kaneki did not miss traveling though these tunnels at all, at least this time he managed to borrow a gasmask from Naki before leaving. This time he was not going to get permission from Tatara to visit the Provider, as soon as he left the base he ran to nearest train station and hitched a ride on the roof of the fast going train till he got the 18th ward then went underground.

Once he got to the door that belonged to the Provider he knocked loudly which was imminently answered by the Providers Granddaughter Rin. The little girl looked up and blinked in surprise,

"Kaneki-san?" She gasped,

"Hi Rin, is your Grandfather in" Kaneki asked, the girl nodded and opened the door wider for Kaneki to enter and the little girl lead him down the stairs towards Providers room.

"By the way, Shirazu says thanks for helping him and his friends the other day" Kaneki said but the girl didn't answer but she opened the door and there Kaneki was greeted by the same room he was only in a few days prior, expect is was more chaotic with dishes and pans unwashed and stacked up in the sink, random pieces of paper littered the floor and there was this smell in air that smelt of rot and decay….Provider must have been eating recently.

"Ah Kaneki-kun, I wasn't expecting visitors today!" the sound of the old man's voice. Kaneki couldn't see him but he followed the voice to a set of piles upon piles of old books stacked up on top of each other to create something like an igloo of books.

"Er Provider?" Kaneki called out slight confused on how the book house could still be standing due to the hollowness under the roof and wondering how the Provider was supporting it from the inside. "You said that you wanted to tell me something alone?"

"Oh yes…I do" Provider answered and after the sound of some shuffling the Provider crawled out of his igloo only to have it fall like a sack of pillows as soon as he was out.

"Rin!" The old called out as he stretched out his old muscles as much as he could in the mess of a den "Please do your grandad a favor and put these books away" The little girl nodded and without delay Rin knelt down on the floor and stared to stack up the books. Provider turned his back on her and led Kaneki to the comfortable seats in the middle of the room. "I would offer you coffee but those people in Aogiri are late bringing my weekly pot of coffee seeds"

"It's ok" Kaneki said sitting down "I'm not planning on staying long anyway just tell me what you need"

"Want to get straight to the point do u? Well ok but first I want to know something, how long do you plan on staying in Aogiri?" Kaneki thought what the Provider had asked and wondered what this had to do with what Provider want to tell him, or was Aogiri using him as a spy so Kaneki gave him the half-true answer.

"I'm not sure I want to see how everything plays out, I think I have just the enough info I needed, this better be important Provider" Kaneki threatened as a small scowl crossed his face, though it was beneath the half-ghoul to threaten an old man he didn't want the Provider thinking of himself as above Kaneki, the half-ghoul was the one with the physical power and if he wanted he could kill the old man right now and study the stacks of books and files the Provider already had.

"No need to be like that Kaneki I just want to know how much you know about the organization your old manger worked for?"

"Yoshimura you mean" Kaneki corrected turning away from the Provider the piles of empty mugs stacked on the floor just away from his feet, Kaneki didn't want to talk about his old manger he didn't want to think of the old man lifeless in a tank being harvest for his kagune but instead wanted to remember him as the helpful caring old man that treated him as his Grandson and what made it worse Kanou didn't know how long Yoshimura would live once out of his tank.

"Of course" Provider nodded "about a month ago a client of mine came around to pass along some very interesting information, well more like an object"

"What are you talking, who is this client?" Kaneki asked, not liking the vague answers the old man was giving him.

"I think I put it in the kitchen cuboid, second above on the right" Provider pointed to the direction of the kitchen and Kaneki realized that the Provider wanted him to get for himself. Typical.

The half-ghoul got up and moved to the kitchen to the cupboard Provider told him to go to, it shouldn't surprise Kaneki that Provider would keep all his important documents and objects in the place where they can easily be ruined. When he opened the cupboard he was welcomed by an old set of teacups, a compass, a hairbrush, a pack of playing cards and a battered leather journal.

"I'm guessing you want me to take the journal?" Kaneki asked taking it out of the cupboard and examining the book. There no pattern on the front and flicking though the pages to see hand written in neat small Kanji which seem to suggest this diary was wrote by a woman.

"Yeah" The Provider grunted "I want you to read that journal before your next battle, it was written by Kuzen's wife Ukina…."

Xxx

A few hours after that appalling attempt of a breakfast Arthur Reed was lead out of his cell by four large men built like American football players, two in the front and two at the back, all four has their quinques which confused Arthur because he wasn't a ghoul and what made the situation stranger was that his hands where bound by quinque steal handcuffs. Did they really think he was that strong? How flattering…

He was relieved when he realized he guards where taking him outside in the afternoon air, he could do with some fresh air. His guards lead him to the black car parked up the curb.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked, specking to his guards for the first time.

"We are taking you to the first ward by orders from Washuu" One of the men in front answered but that wasn't enough for Arthur,

"Which one?" He asked but instead of been answered they pulled the back of the car door open and a pair of hands pushed him inside. The rest of the journey was in an uncomfortable silence with two large men sitting on both sides of Arthur blocking his chances of escaping though the car doors and the other two men in the front. Arthur hadn't met a bunch of such serious guys since working for the USGEP a couple of years ago but at least then he knew then that at as long as he stuck to the rules he would be fine but now in the CCG…Well he didn't know for certain, these where the people who interrogated him, treated him like a common criminal and now treating him like a ghoul. The situation was all very stupid, all this just because he went to a club…a club he wasn't supposed to go into by orders of Akira Mado, a woman he only worked 'with' not 'under'.

Finally they stopped at the familiar head branch of the CCG. Arthur was glad to back in the first ward, the ward had grown on him since the few week he had been here. Before getting out the car the big man who had been driving, and who also seemed to be the leader, turned his fat neck towards Arthur.

"Reed-san, we are now going to take off your cuffs and when we do you are going to do exactly as we say, we are going to get out of this car and you will walk in-between me and my men as before, you will keep your head down and won't make eye contact we anyone. We will walk you to Matsuri Washuu's office and from then you are in their hands. Do you understand?" The large man waited for an answer and god the amount of comebacks Arthur could give him, this was just too easy.

"What happens if I break any of these rules?" Arthur asked, hey it was better than asking if he was being walked to his execution or if he was in some sort of Hollywood movie however the large man stared down at Brit, he didn't say anything no one did the small black eyes of the larger investigator pierced through the large green eyes of Arthurs.

Arthur knew what the man was trying to do, to make him feel uncomfortable and he was sad to say that it was working so he diverted his eyes and the larger man huffed before getting out of the car and the two other men sitting beside Arthur quickly took off his handcuffs and lead him outside towards the building.

Arthur as instructed did not meet anyone in the eye but still he felt the eyes of his fellow colleague's watch him as he walked passed them, they were either wondering what was wrong or the news had spread about Arthur's arrest however it didn't mean they all had to stare at him! Seriously what was wrong with these people?! Was disobeying an order from Akira Mado such a taboo? Was he no longer considered a member of the human race, was the world going to burn up in flames all because he ignored ONE order from Mado?

Oh, yes…Arthur Reed is a _Monster. *clap* *clap* *clap*_

Anyway Arthur was glad once he was pushed in to the empty elevator away from everyone else, one of them men pressed the button to the top floor, which the Washuu's basically owned, and the five of them traveled upwards. It didn't take long for the elevator to stop and it wasn't long until Arthur and his guards where standing outside Matsuri Washuu's office.

The leader knocked lightly on the door and the man's voice told him to enter, the door was pushed open and the five of them walked though into the large room. The office had not changed much since the last time he was here, the room was dark and gloomy as ever with its black out curtains drawn together and small lamp on Washuu's large wooden desk was the only light source. Last time Arthur had been here was had admired all the books what Matsuri had collected over the years but now those bookcases where cover by the large group of investigators sitting on fold up chairs creating a semi-circle.

Arthur recognized some of the face of Akira Mado, Oli, Ali, Suzuya and Hanbee all the other investigators where just shadows to him but of course there was Matsuri Washuu sitting behind his desk scowling (or was that just his normal face?). Matsuri waved Arthurs guards away and the door shut behind them with a soft click.

"Do you know why you are here Arthur Reed?" Matsuri asked, getting straight to the point as always.

"I'm kind of confused myself" Arthur shrugged yet he couldn't help but force a smile "From my awareness all I did was disobey the lovely Mado but looking back at the _warm_ treatment I have been given I suspect there is more to it?"

"Looks like you should be quick to understand then" Washuu nodded "Tell me Reed-kun before you came to his country did you read the Ghoul Countermeasures Laws?"

"Yeah I did" Arthur nodded "I was given the handbook and a long lecture on it once I got here, are you suggesting that I have broken on of your precious articles?"

"Yes I do" Washuu spoke, his voice as risen maybe he didn't like Arthurs tone or his sarcasm "And we don't need to suggest anything we have evidence, can you relate the second rule of article 12 for me?"

"Article 12 clearly states that in relation to the subjects distinguished as ghouls, there are no laws that protect these individuals" Arthur answered, still unsure what was going on.

"Correct and now repeat Article 13 and Article 119" Washuu nodded so Arthur continued.

"Article 13 states that ghoul investigators have the duty to make the safety of the citizens their highest priority and that Article 119 declares harboring or preventing the arrest of a ghoul is a crime punishable by death, are you saying that I somehow broke these rules?"

"Yes" This time Washuu didn't speck but Akira Mado standing up from here seat, her voice was stern and her eyes were cold as ice she didn't look very well either due to spending the night in the hospital but either way she was very different from the woman who made him feel welcome less than a week ago. She turned to Washuu, "May I tell him?" to Arthurs surprise Washuu nodded.

"We have collected plenty of security footage over the night you were in the cell" She explained "The Encounter didn't have much going on CTV wise however one the CTV cameras that belongs to a neighbor who lives just behind the nightclub caught you talking to some woman just outside and this woman looks very similar to the ghoul I ran in to during that fire and _she_ happened to be Centipede, the young _man_ we are looking for"

"Yes Ken Kaneki does make lovely young lady doesn't he" Arthur laughed though he knew that he shouldn't be laughing, he knew where they were going with this, they were going accuse him of not trying to capture Kaneki when he had the chance and talking to the ghoul in the first place. The CCG had strict rules about treating ghouls as if they were animals to be slaughtered more than talking to them like normal people.

"This is not funny!" Washuu shouted shooting up from his chair and slamming this hands again the table "Letting that ghoul go you have endangered the citizens of Tokyo, what's going happen if this gets out to the media who are on our trail enough as it is and this isn't even the first time you have done this either!"

"We have collected more CTV footage off your whereabouts over the last week" Akira explained before Arthur could ask what Washuu was going on about "On the night the ghoul broke into your house your car was seen leaving your house carrying someone over your shoulder, the security footage of the time is strangely blank but instead of heading to the CCG office you headed further out of the ward towards the nearest port as a red motorbike followed you the CTV on the roads and the port prove this, you were also seen fighting them at the port and once another ghoul came into the picture you ran and didn't think to call back-up, can you explain yourself"

Arthur just stared at the woman dumbfounded, the people around him probably thought he was afraid and shocked due to his silence but instead Arthur couldn't help but think how stupid and slow these people were, for the first time he felt a genuine smile spread across his face but it wasn't a happy one, it more the smile of disbelieve. His chest felt jumpy as if someone had put a load of bouncy ball in there instead of muscles and bones, he opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say, all that could come out of his mouth was short laughs. He knew that he probably looked like a mad man now but he didn't care, he put his right hand towards his face trying to calm his laughter while his other hand was on his side where a small stich was forming.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" some random investigator asked, it could have been Hanbee and Oli but Arthur didn't care.

"I think I get what Arthur finds so funny" Now that was a voice Arthur could identify, Ali.

"Then please explain Woods-san" Washuu asked impatiently, the American girl stood up from her chair and explained.

"I wasn't here when it happened but wasn't Arthur's house invaded nearly seven days ago? And you only got this information last night?"

Everyone in the room stared blackly and then another laughter erupted, it was coming from Juuzou.

"She has a point" Juuzou said though his snorts and giggles "Who was in charge of that investigation anyway"

"We speculated it had something to do with Aogiri so I took the case but because we had nothing to go on since Arthur _supposedly_ couldn't identify the ghoul the trail went cold" Akira explained.

"Went cold!?" Ali shot up shaking her head glaring at Akira Mado though her dark eyes "More like you've had more important thing to do than investigate on a fellow investigators death, you didn't check it out until Arthur was shown talking to a ghoul and it has taken you this long to ask witnesses if Arthur was seen carrying someone into his car and also this long to get CVT camera footage to see if his statement was true, a bit unprofessional don't you think?"

Akira opened her mouth, probably to come up with a smart comeback but instead she was left gulping like a fish, it seemed like Akira wasn't used to that kind of criticism and not that there anything she could say anyway, it was the truth after all. Just like Arthur thought, Akira and Ali where a dangerous mix.

"What I want to know" Washuu interrupted "Is who Arthur Reed was carrying into his car, we know it's not the victim because he was found dead in the homeowner's bedroom so can you explain this Reed-san?"

By this point Arthur had calmed down long enough to take his hand from his face and his stich had faded away, he smiled

"You know I was wondering how long it would take you to work it out" The Brit said "You know if it wasn't for the issue at the Encounter you wouldn't have got it but yeah I will tell you everything that happened that night"

Xxx

The sun was just beginning to set when Kaneki came home to the 11th ward. He entered the shop and he was greeted by the desperate faces of Hinami and Saiko running up to him and to his surprise they gave him a hug.

"Hey girls" Kaneki greeted them to be honest he was surprised by their sudden affection, he already knew that the girls adored him like a big brother but still.

"Maman!" Saiko cried "I'm hungry, we are out of food!"

"And Urie is gone with the car" Hinami explained and the half-ghoul stared down at the two girls in shock torn to feeling guilt about forgetting that his students still needed to eat human food and wondering what Hinami meant when she said Urie was gone.

"Finally your back" Shirazu spoke walking towards them "Look we need to do some quick food shopping and Urie isn't here to send out so…"  
"Food can be sorted easily, here" Kaneki fished into his pocket and took out some money and handed to Shirazu "Find some ghoul that looks trusting and is not on the CCG's wanted list and tell them what supplies we need" Shirazu nodded, took the money and spread off, Kaneki turned back to the two girls.

"Now what do you mean that Urie is missing and now that I think about I don't see Mutsuki, Athena or Seidou either" Kaneki said looking around the room.

"They have gone searching the rest of the 11th ward, me, Saiko and Shirazu thought it was a better idea to stay behind in case you or Urie returned" Hinami explained. Kaneki wondered what to next before Saiko suddenly spoke up.

"Oh and a package came for you" the blue haired girl said before running up to the desk and throwing it towards the half-ghoul, the brown package with his name on. Kaneki certainly knew what it was, he was wondering when the Clowns where going to pay him.

"Is it something from Aogiri?" Hinami asked.

"Never you mind!" Kaneki scowled poking her nose quickly, it seemed like he had a lot of reading to do tonight but first find out what had happened to Urie, maybe he should give Eto a call….

Xxx

Once Arthur had finished his account the rest of the group couldn't help but stare at him in disbelieve and judgement. They waited for someone to break the silence and Washuu seemed it was right for him to be set with that task.

"So let me get this straight" The man started taking a deep breath "For you own self reasons you knock out your partner's killer, who happens to be Kuki Urie and instead of taking him to Cochlea or calling for back up you put him in the back of your car to take him to some random port to abstract your own information from him and then some ghouls follow and attack you and then the S rated Serpent came in and instead of calling for back-up you run away!"

"More like I wanted to see if the ghouls would kill each other so my life would be easier but they seemed to have some common ground and it was interesting so I let them live" Arthur answer shrugging his shoulders, he knew that his answer wasn't going to be accepted by Washuu and tonight he would be on the first plane back to England and he won't complete his goal and the whole trip would be a waste of time.

"You lied to me" Akira's voice sounded soft yet broken like a brick wall ready to crumble "I believed you when you said you didn't see that ghouls face and I thought you were sad over Yagami's death. Why did you hide all this from me!?" She demanded to know, her voice was get louder the rest of the people in the room where ignored it was just her and Arthur now "You knew that Urie was one of my squad members, I had a right to know that he was still alive, maybe if you told me sooner it wouldn't have been such a shock to see Mutsuki and Shirazu last night and now they are both on the ghoul wanted list it won't take long for the media to get Saiko's and Urie's names too but now we know….."

Arthur watched the young woman break down not knowing how to react or respond. He knew that Akira cared a lot about her subordinates but even with the fact they are now half-ghoul (or something of that nature) and have killed people she still seemed to care about them. It surprised Arthur so maybe not all these CCG investigators were merciless monsters but he didn't know what he could say to the woman to comfort her, he didn't think there was anything that anyone could say.

"The reporters would have worked out that Urie and Saiko where involved with Aogiri as soon as we put out the information on Shirazu and Mutsuki" Juuzou Suzuya spoke up for the first time during the meeting, the young investigator had been strangely quite thought out this whole ordeal, maybe this was Suzuya's attempt of comforting Akira but still….

"That doesn't matter" Washuu said coldly, everyone turned towards the man who had now sat back down behind his desk "What happened to Akira's squad is only a small loss they would be easy to deal with but Centipede and Naki are going to be bigger problems and we also have an escaped ghoul, we can't have the people of Tokyo….no, the world doubt us that is why we need to put all our efforts into the 14th Ward and work out what's going on there and stop it!"

"More like you want to start raid with the ghouls of the 14th Ward to restore your image more than protecting your citizens or soldiers" Arthur stated, if the Brit wasn't in trouble he was now but at this moment Arthur was far from caring. Washuu took a deep breath before continuing.

"Reed-kun, because of our contract with the BCGM we can't put you back in your cell more than 24 hours and we can't kill you, you will be put under house arrest instead until we decide what to do with you"

 **Note: I will end it there. You know after finishing this chapter I had a dream that I was marrying Hinami? Strange…. The next chapter is the start of the battle and things should start coming together then.**

 **Also sorry for not updating much over the summer I've had a writer's block and some real life issues but I will reassure you all that I don't plan to leave this fic uncompleted. Thank you all for the patience and I will see you next time.**


	49. Takizawa Arc: Wicked Tidings

**Tokyo Ghoul: The Other Story**

 **Chapter 23: Wicked Tidings**

Kaneki's sleep was restless. He probably didn't fall asleep until six in the morning when everyone in his squad where already on the verge of waking up. The past eight hours had been quite eventful, Kaneki had called up Eto asking about Urie and she said he was fine and that Doctor Kanou had just finished getting one of his frames opened and would be staying at Rue Island for a couple of days. Kaneki shouldn't have been surprised, Urie was reckless and it was obvious that he had no respect for Kaneki or anyone else in the group. Once done on the phone he told the others calmly that the ex-squad leader was back with Aogiri. Once Naki, Mutsuki, Athena, and Seidou came back to shop he had to repeat everything he had just told the others. Athena was annoyed for having her time wasted, she was the only one that didn't seem to be worried about Urie's well-being even the usually stoic Seidou and the brain-dead Naki looked concerned.

Kaneki sent Shirazu off to find someone trustworthy to buy food for them and everyone tried to get on as normal. Saiko was complaining how they hadn't washed for days, Mutsuki and Hinami were reading their books, Athena was doing her hair while Naki was busy bothering Seidou who looked like he just wanted to be left alone. Kaneki smiled at the mundane of it all, if only there wasn't the dark looming shadow of CCG, Aogiri and Urie over them it would have been I pretty ordinary scene. He announced to everyone he was going to take a late night walk around the walk and with warnings to be careful Kaneki left to find a quiet place to read in one of the empty flats about a mile away from the shop.

It look him along time to read both Ukina's diary and what the clowns knew about Athena's life and even then some details where shady. Once he had finished reading we took a wander down the streets, borrowed a lighter from a group of young smokers and burnt Athena's sheets but he kept Ukina's journal nice and safe. For the rest of that night he kept strolling along the quite roads of the 11th ward with no trouble what so ever letting his mind race on about V, Washuu's, and CCG, he would clench his fists and feel his heart race at that the thought of Washuu being ghouls and how they had control the world, claiming to be proctors of the human race…what a load bull shit.

This world belonged to the Washuu clan, to ghouls but the problem was what to do with this new information. Did Eto know all this? Possibly.

Now he was back at the shop inside his old sleeping bag with the others snoring around him. For the rest of the night Kaneki kept blinking in and out of sleep and he didn't wake up probably until a strong hand shook his shoulder and called out his name. Kaneki opened his eyes to see Seidou's long pale looming over him and Kaneki was glad Althea dyed his brown with permanent hair-dye, if the other half-ghoul still had his ghostly white hair then Kaneki would have been in for a scare.

"Finally your up, it's nearly noon" Seidou explained and Kaneki eyes widened in surprise.

"What?!" He gasped, was he really in that insomnia state for that long? He looked around the room and noticed that everyone else had gone but he didn't hear anyone leaving. "Where is everyone?" He asked and Seidou shrugged.

"They are going to find out how people wash around here but that's not the important thing, this boy came with the newspaper and none of its good" Seidou dropped the paper on Kaneki's lap, Kaneki opened it and what he saw shot him out of his sleepy state. The images of Saiko and Urie where on the list of new wanted ghouls but not only that, there was also an image of Arthur Reed under the headline **'Conspiracy and Suspicion Between CCG and the Foreign Ghoul Investigators'**

"What?!" Kaneki really hoped that it wasn't going to be his main word for the day but the news had picked up on the foreign investigators but not only that, it was Reed at the front of the cover.

"He was arrested on the night of the Encounter" Seidou explained seeing Kaneki's confusion "The CCG tried to keep it privet but now he's under house arrest and the media are having a ball with it, they now know that he works for BCGM and the USGEP is getting put into the spotlight, not many people in Tokyo would of considered the possibility of western CCG's who do things differently, they want the CCG to step up and explain".

"It was going to come out one day" Kaneki said wearily climbing out of his sleeping bag "Do we have any coffee?" Luckily the back room had a coffee machine that worked on batteries so there was no coffee shortage.

"Sure thing" Seidou nodded. Kaneki had noticed that the other half-ghoul had become more talkative and cheerful since coming here, he was still with-drawn and quite at times but he was improving and Kaneki was proud of him as long as the memories stayed hidden then Seidou could get his life back on track.

He now had to get dressed and think about what he was going to do with his new information.

Xxx

While Kaneki was having his restless sleep Hideyoshi Nagachika was wide awake. He was annoyed at himself for sleep the whole day and was also annoyed at Touka and Yomo for not waking him up. Touka had got him up to date with Tsukiyama's plan and he had to admit he saw no problems with it however what was he going to do now?

"We do nothing" Yomo stated that morning while he and Touka were setting up the café.

"Agreed" Touka nodded and turned to Hide "we wait until we hear back the Gourmet-bastard but today you can help me with the shop, I gave those two trainees the day off so we need the extra hands" Hide then remembered that he hadn't helped at Re for a while, for a few months he had been doing odd jobs for Touka to help earn his keep which he has negated to do.

"Sure let me just get my uniform on"

Xxx

Arthur was pissed to say the least. As soon as yesterday's little drama was over Arthur was escorted to his home in the 2nd Ward by his four 'favorite' guards (You know, the same four that escorted him into that meeting in the first place) and those four guards would rotate every five hours so at least two of them are watching him.

It had been a day and neither of his guards would tell him what was going on with the CCG or the media, it was frustrating and what was worse was that the CCG had taken most of his personal and important belongings such as his phone, computer, tablet and quinque but most importantly they had taken away his personal research that he had collected for almost the past ten years. The newspaper clippings and photos that once hung on his wall where now gone, making the room look dark and empty, Arthur didn't like it.

Although despite all this the CCG did let him keep his books.

At this moment Arthur was in his kitchen eating his lunch (A cheese sandwich and a bag of crisps) with one hand a book by the author Sen Takatsuki in the other. He had picked up the book in his first few days in the country, apparently Takatsuki was a very famous and well-known author in Japan and while he was only a few chapters in to The Black Goats Egg, he could see why it was so popular. The writing style flowed smoothly and built up tension in the right places and the main character and is morals were just entertaining.

He concentrated on the words of the page and blocked out the sounds of screams that were coming from his two guards standing behind his kitchen door, he could help but smirk however when he heard the soft squashing of blood pour onto the floor or the sharp snap of bones crack under pressure. Only when the sound stopped did Arthur put his book down and turn his head towards the new comer.

"Well fancy seeing you here Adrianne….Or should I say Roma"

Xxx

Until evening approached Kaneki trained with his squad. Luckily the skies for the rest of the week had been full of nothing sunshine and clouds and today was no different. He, Mutsuki, Shirazu and even Saiko trained their fighting skills in the large space just outside the Aogiri's old base. They trained like this for a few hours until Naki and Seidou joined them and Naki was able to give his own ideas to the training, while Seidou just stood to the side and watched. Later Hinami joined the group and then Athena. Kaneki had to say that it was the best training session he had. He could see his team improving both in strength and strategy, they trained for a couple of hours with the qunique, then with the kagune and then hand to hand combat which ended up being the most successful.

Finally when Kaneki noticed the sun going dim and when his human students started to complain about how tired and hungry they were he decided to call it a day and specking of hunger…when was the last time he himself had eaten?

He would have to eat soon, but not tonight. Today had been fun and peaceful and he didn't want that ruined.

Xxx

That night two investigators, one senior and one rank 2 were patrolling the dimly lit streets of the 14th Ward. However they weren't the only ones, the CCG had sent a few hundred men to circuit the roads, streets and very corner of the 14th Ward for ghoul activity. It was a boring job and these men and woman would love nothing more than to be at home right now watching the latest games show or drama. However late night work was a part of an investigators job and someone had to keep the streets of Tokyo safe, specifically in a dangerous ward like this.

However these two investigators where bored, at one point they stopped at a noodle stand, then stopped at a public toilet and carried on walking aimlessly. They didn't believe anything was going to happen to them. Nothing ever did. They were just two faceless investigators who were always in the background. Nothing would happen to them. So they didn't notice that two figures had been following them for the past forty minutes.

The two figures had been patient, it difficult since their boss wasn't there to issue orders to just jump in and fight but now they thought they were ready. One of two figures stepped out five feet in front of the two investigators, both Doves stopped in their tracks. There was something strange about the figure, he was very slim with light chin length hair that covered half his face but what really made him stand out was the white mask and his white suit. You didn't need to a full time investigator to know what this meant. They were facing off a ghoul.

But before the Dove to get out their Qunique the second figure jumped behind them and grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and lifted them up so their feet dangled in the air.

"These two are weak Hooguro" The large man sneered "We were wasting our time"

"No matter Shousei, we want to get the Doves attention don't we?" The skinny man said strolling up to them "Let's just pull off a leg or two and be on our wa.." His words where interrupted when he felt a sharp sudden pain in his left shoulder.

"What the fuck, was that a bee sting" Hooguro giggled and he turned to face his attackers who were running up to them, there were four of them and they were not like ordinary investigators. Two wore shot white jackets instead of the normal white coat, they carried a gun like object in their hands and the ghouls guessed that they were made to take quinque bullets. The other two were wearing black jackets but they didn't carry any weapon or any case for that matter, Hooguro and Shousei could smell ghoul.

Shousei dropped the two investigators on their butts and they ran away from the scene as fast as they could. The two white jacket investigators aimed their guns again and shot, this time the bullets came out in rows not pausing but the ghouls weren't worried, with speed Shousei and Hooguro dodged them in a way a human could never do.

"Hold fire!" The girl with the black jacket ordered, and the two white suits were right when they could smell ghoul because the woman suddenly unzipped her jacket and dropped it on the ground and suddenly a large red Koukaku came out from below her shoulder blade. The man behind her, who also wore a black jacket did the same. Shousei and Hooguro were confused, what where ghouls doing saving Doves and working with humans? But they had no time to think about it because the koukaku duo where ready to strike.

The two white suits slipped to the sides just dodging the unusually fast koukaku ghouls but investigators must have expected this because as soon as Shousei and Hooguro where clear of the kagune the sound of bullets fired at them however if there was one thing about these guns is that they seemed to lack aim.

The two white suites aimed for the humans firing the gun.

Hooguro aimed for the young man with the long noise and the glasses, the young man was obviously still in training because he foolishly stopped firing his gun and stepped back. Hooguro grinned, this was just too easy. He punched the boy in the gut knocking the wind out of him, Daniel was thrown back however Ali and Oli where not close enough to save him and Shousei was already aiming towards Adrianne however the bubble gum blue haired girl look unworried. She stopped shooting and leaped out of the way, she held her gun out like a bat ready to swing, the gun made contact with his head.

It didn't knock Shousei out it left him feeling dizzy and disorientated, that girl had a strong hit but Shousei was a member of the White suites, he had dealt with worse and this fact was proved when he sensed one of the other ghouls run up behind him. Shousei turned to face the koukaku male ghoul head on.

"Stay away from her!" Oli screamed, Shousei grinned but he didn't get a chance to fight because another ghoul got to him first. All of a sudden a tall and elegant figure with a Rinkaku kagune stabbed Oli in the back.

"OLI!" Ali screamed, the female ghoul had ran to save Daniel that she didn't have the time to run towards her brother before Hooguro kicked her in the stomach then punched her right under the nose. Quickly Hooguro grabbed Daniel by his neck who dropped his gun in shock, the two ghouls turned to their savior and the three nodded and turned to run leaving a stunned Ali, an unconscious Oli and Adrianne who was trying to hide the smirk from her face.

Xxx

Two days had passed… and nothing had happened.

The news on Daniel Marley's kidnaping had been kept quiet to prevent alarm but warnings of the dangerous 14th ward had gone out though out Tokyo however Arthur was now the CCG's most wanted.

The young Brit was watching the news on the TV sitting inside the Helter Skelter. Itori was cleaning the dust and spilt drinks from her tables, Uta was working on some mask designs and other Clowns where elsewhere. Arthur wasn't surprised about the appearance of the Clowns, he had heard of them before coming to Tokyo and was expecting to face off with them sooner or later but what he didn't expect was them to him….let along save him.

What were they playing at?

And not only that, they got his favourite qunique back for him. At the moment the metal case was sitting beside his feet, he never went anywhere without it these days. If only he could get his research back though.

"Looks like things are going to get dangerous around here" Uta commented, the news had just reported that the CCG were evacuating the 14th wards citizens and planned to raid out the ghouls…tonight.

"Won't the CCG find this bar though?" Arthur asked and Itori shook her head.

"They go evacuate the housing areas so people can pack whatever items they need, they won't bother coming here"

"And I suppose that we don't have to worry about Aogiri Tree?" Arthur asked.

"Well we don't" Uta said finally looking up from his drawings "However I'm sure you would like to face them wouldn't you?" Arthur shook his head,

"Maybe not in this battle however I would like my research back and with most of the CCG agents in the 14th ward this is a good time as any to get them back"

Itori nodded with approval.

Xxx

For the past two days Kaneki had been training along with his squad. He felt like they were making some improvements, Saiko was now getting herself more involved with team, Shirazu's qunique had gotten stronger and Mutsuki was really talented with the qunique knifes but still hadn't brought out his kagune yet. Althea joined the training now again and talked to them about battle strategies, Naki would also put his own impute in (though it was never any helpful) and Seidou sometimes liked to watch the training while Hinami practised training her senses.

However Urie still hadn't returned.

Saiko, Shirazu, Mutsuki and Hinami were the most worried about Urie's safety, Kaneki called Eto at least once a day to see if the ex-squad leader was doing ok and it seemed that he was but Eto wouldn't give him much details on his condition but only that he was fine. Kaneki was annoyed to say the least.

However something unusual happened, when the squad were taking a break from training it was Kaneki's phone that buzzed, for once Eto was calling him and not the other way around. While the other squad member ate and chat at the shop Kaneki walked outside away from the building and answered the phone, he didn't even get to say hello before Eto started talking.

"Hey Kaneki a van is coming to get you and the others to the 14th Ward, so get them ready" Eto spoke quickly but not in a scared or panicked way, it was more like how someone would talk if they only had two minutes to get ready for a party .

"What are you talking about? We haven't finished investigating" Well actually he had putting of the investigation since the whole Encounter incident but he surprised that Eto knew that already.

"Too late" She said, Kaneki could just imagine the smirk that must be on her face. "Get everyone to pack their masks and quinque and make sure they are dressed for battle, you have half an hour"

"Wait Eto…" But she hung up.

 **Authors Note: Long time since I have updates isn't it? This fic is going on hiatus for a while. I will be blunt, I have too busy with college and sorting out my depression for the past few months. I can't tell you much but shit happens and I hope to continue once college is done and my head is sorted out. I am sorry to those who have waited so long for an update. I even want to re-write this fic but I don't know, again I am sorry.**

 **Becky4ever1996**


	50. Note

Why there has not been an update for so long

Hey! Long-time no see! I know most people would have dropped this story already but I've noticed there are still people following the story and reading and I feel that I owe you all an explanation.

Just to make this clear I still don't plan to drop this story, I enjoyed writing it too much and I still have so many ideas for it however writing is not may only passion. I am also an art student, when writing this fanfic I was studying art in college and I plan to study illustration in university this September. Because of this I needed to put fanfiction back for a while to get the grades I needed and this summer I have been working hard to try to improve my drawing skills and to find my own style, this took more priority over writing.

While re-reading I've noticed a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, I know I'm not the best when it comes to re-reading and I'm not good spelling and most of my grammar skill I've forgotten in High School. I tried looking for a Beta Reader but I had not much luck.

My main problem is how to tackle this fanfic now. I have a new Fanfiction profile which I will link down below later. I am unsure to re-post the re-write of this story on that profile or if I should edit the chapters that are already posted here?

What do you think?

New Profile: ~rebekah1996


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